Songs Your Mother Sang to You

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: ragdall
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 08:43 AM

My mother sang hymns to me, sometimes in Swedish. When I was very young I remember my mother singing "The Old Rugged Cross", "Jesus Loves me", Jesus loves the Little Children" and others. She sang "Flow Gently Sweet Afton" to me as a lullaby.
My father would play his harmonica or sing "popular" songs, but he didn't know many of the words and he'd make up silly lines instead of the real ones. Some of his favourites were "The Old Grey Mare", "Old Dan Tucker", "Good Night Irene", "Oh Susannah", "Danny Boy", "Old Man River", "Camptown Races".

rags

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: Joe_F
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 05:56 PM

As recorded in my baby book, I had learned the following from her by age 2 1/2: Lead Kindly Light, Jesus Bids Us Shine, Blessed Jesus, Silent Night, Frere Jacques, Au Clair de la Lune, Aupres de ma Blonde, Kommt a Vogel, Muss i Denn, Ah Wie ist's Moglich, Von Meinem Bergli, Guten Abend Gute Nacht, Oyfn Pripichook, Rozhinkas mit Mandeln, Come Let's Play We're Indians, Here Comes the Sandman, Lovely May, and a couple of dozen Mother Goose.

I have forgotten most of them.

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: kendall
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 07:48 PM

The Gypsy's Warning.
The Gangster's Warning.
We are just plain folks.

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: Nick E
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 08:13 PM

Sad but sweet. It was "Don't you walk on my clean floor."

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 08:55 PM

More than I can possibly list here! Some beautiful & haunting, many just plain silly. Dad, too.
Thanks, mama!

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: blinddrunkal
Date: 19 Sep 10 - 07:49 AM

My mother would sing me to sleep with "The Wearing of The Green" - "Oh they're hanging men and women...." cheery stuff! She also loved to sing "chick chick chick chick chicken lay a little egg for me.....I haven't had an egg since Easter and now it's half past three, so chick chick....."

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: Crowhugger
Date: 21 Oct 10 - 03:50 PM

At our place, lullabies were sung to us at bedtime and everything else was taught to us. The lullies were:
-Hush Little Baby Don't Say a Word
-Say Goodnight Little One
-You Will Wear Velvet
-Scarlet Ribbons (she used it as a lullaby)

Songs she sang to to us till we were able to sing them with her:

-rounds like Frere Jacques, Row Row Row Your Boat, Fire's Burning.
-The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night
-Big Rock Candy Mountain
-The Gospel Train (she altered the tempo according to what the train was doing, totally a favourite as a child)
-The Sloop John B.
-Git Along Home Cindy, Cindy
-Uncle Reuben Caught a Coon
-Skip to My Lou
-Vive La Canadienne
-Hey-up! Judy Drownded
-Darling Clementine
-Guantanamera
-Un Canadien Errant
-Farm Out West
-Buckeyed Jim (another fave due to syncopation)
-Old Dan Tucker
-900 Miles
-J'Entends le Moulin Tique Tique Taque
-St. Louis Blues
-Why and Why
-something about "en revenant de ma jolie Rochelle..."
-Old Grandmere (which is about a town, not a person)
-Gently, Johnny My Jingalo
-Vatican Rag
-There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly
-Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
-Linstead Market
-The Keeper Did A-Hunting Go
-What Color [sic] is a Man? (Bobby Vinton)
-one that starts "I met her in Venezu-e-e-e-e-e-e-ela...
-Skinny Man (a Fifth Dimension song in 7/8 time)
-Streets of Laredo
-Red River Valley (which we kids always thought was the one in Manitoba)
-Mississippi Mud (which we kids always thought was about the river some 30-40 minutes west of Ottawa)

And there was kids' song I loved with a first verse something like:
There's a little white duck swimming in the water,
A little white duck doing what he ought-er
He saw a from on the lily pad,
Took one look and he said I'm glad
That I'm a little white duck swimming in the water,
Quack, quack, quack.

That's the main bunch I can remember. There are probably a few more.

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: Crowhugger
Date: 21 Oct 10 - 03:53 PM

ooops, that would be a "frog" on a lily pad...

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST,Jean
Date: 20 Jan 11 - 11:18 PM

Oh, lovely memories! The 'Mother Monkey' song I remember went like this:

There was a mother monkey.
She lived in a big tall tree.
She lived with daddy monkey
as happy as could be.
They had a baby monkey.
Who was their joy and pride
Now listen while I tell you how Tommy monkey died.
He was such a little monkey
with such a curly tail
He went out for a walk one day
and fell into a pail.
When mother monkey saw him
she cried and cried and cried.
Then quickly she fished him out again
But, quietly he died.
Now poor old mother monkey she was so very sad,
she'd lost her little monkey boy,
the only one she had.
So putting on her bonnet she hurried to the shop so fast
and bought another monkey boy exactly like the last.

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 03:58 PM

My mother used to sing "Close the door, they're coming in the window!" which even at that tender age seemed rather illogical to me. Also a song which went "Look at the coffin, bloomin' great 'andles, Oh aint it grand to be blooming well dead. Look at the 'orses, blooming well fed up" etc. Rather morbid for a three year-old, but I loved it!

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: kendall
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 04:20 PM

A bit more of the Darkie's Sunday school:

Adam was the first man to ever be invented
He lived all alone but never was contend

.....lost it....


Along came Noah stumbling in the dark
He picked up a hammer and he built himself an ark
For forty days and forty nights he sailed upon the foam
And he kicked out a Lion just because she was a blond.

and

Along came Eve looking for a battle
She climbed up a tree and shook down an apple
She shook down two and they each had one
And that is where all our troubles begun.

Along comes Daniel he was an onery cuss
The king said he wouldn't have no such fuss
He threw him in the Lion's den way down deep
But Daniel was a dentist so he pulled the Lion's teeth.

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: RTim
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 05:27 PM

The songs my mother sang to me were always too fast, out of tune and badly scanned!
I am glad my father was a great singer....

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 06:11 PM

I seem to be unique in that my wonderful Mum used to sing me rude songs:-

Oh what fun
oh what fun
Shooting peas up a nanny goats bum

Gemima Jones and me
we both sat up a tree
We had no shimmies
to cover our jimmies
Gemima Jones and me!

Mrs McGuire
weed on the fire
the fire was too hot
she weed in the pot
the pot was too round
she weed on the ground
the ground was too flat
she weed on the cat
And the cat ran away
with the wee on its back!

The corporation muck cart
was full up to the brim
The driver over toppled
And then he fell right in!

Quakers meeting has begun
Sing, dance fart or run
Show your teeth
Or whistle!

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST,Seonaid
Date: 01 Mar 11 - 01:00 PM

My mother had trouble holding onto a tune -- she would easily wander from one to another, especially if they were similar. I remember hearing "Goldfinger, wider than a mile..." coming from the kitchen one day.
Our young years were full of poetry: Rudyard Kipling, Mildred Plew Meigs, Ogden Nash, and so on and on. But once in a while we'd get a song: "Peek-a-boo, I See You"; "The Animal Fair"; "Mairsie Doats"; "The Keeper Would A-Hunting Go"; "Looking Through a Window, A Second-Story Window".
When we got older we were treated to a few special verses from Mom's Navy days, such as this spoof sung to the first lines of "Pretty Baby": "If you're nervous in the service and you don't know what to do, have a baby, have a baby...."

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 04:01 PM

Driving home from Cambridge today, a train of thought led me to singing to my wife Fred Astaire's We Joined The Navy To See The World ("and what did we see? We saw the sea!") from Follow The Fleet ~~ which I have unaccountably omitted above from the songs my mother sang me ~~ which was, of course, when the film was new ~ 1936 when I was 4.

So I hasten to record this world-shatteringly important fact here so that it shall not be lost to posterity.

♫ LoL ~Michael~ LoL ♫

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: Richard from Liverpool
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 05:03 PM

Songs I remember my family singing to me as a very young child:

From my mother - Trasna na dTonnta
From my father - Poverty Knock
From my uncle - Coulter's Candy and Ye Cannae Shove Your Granny Off A Bus

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Dec 12 - 02:00 PM

There was a mother monkey who lived in In a big tall tree
she had a little monkey boy as happy as could be
Now listen as I tell you how baby monkey died.
He was such a tiny monkey
With such a curly tail
He went out for a walk one day and fell into a pail
When mother monkey found him, she cried and cried and cried
And as she pulled him out again, quietly he died.

Now poor old mother monkey
She was so very sad
She had lost her monkey boy
The only one she had
BUT putting on her bonnet
She ran to the shops so fast
And bought another monkey boy exactly like the last!

This song was also sung to us by my mother when we were young, the expressions and hand movements were wonderful. The little monkey was only about three inches high when she explained hi. The fingers showed the curly tail etc. we would do the movements with her.
I am 63 years old now and I can still remember the wors as if it was yesterday.

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: Joybell
Date: 10 Dec 12 - 03:41 PM

My father's family all sang. Songs were part of me from birth. My mother had a terrible voice, however, and sang out of tune. I remember holding my hands over my ears, at the age of two, and screaming, "Don't sing Dottie! Don't sing Dottie!" Later we joked about that and it became a family story.
My mother always said she'd come back and haunt me with her singing.
I was 31 when she died and when I sorted her things I found an old cassette tape without a lable. I put it on the player and my mother's voice warbled out in a cracked and horrible out-of-tune version of "The Lord's Prayer."
Gave me a start.
Makes me sad now because we couldn't share the joke. We never did get along, really. We would have if she'd lived a bit longer I think.
66 years since I was two.
Oh! and it was "Rings on my Fingers" and "Pop! Goes the Weasel" that she sang then.
Joy

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST,Bruce B
Date: 13 Jun 13 - 06:15 PM

My mother used to sing the mother monkey song and here it is:
There was a mother monkey
who lived in a big tall tree
She lived with daddy monkey
was as happy as could be
they had a little monkey boy who was their joy and pride
now listen while I tell you how tommy monkey died

He was a little monkey boy
with such a tiny tail
he went out for a walk one day and fell into a pail
when mother monkey found him
she cried and cried and cried
and quickly hooked him out again but quietly he died

She put on her little bonnet
and ran to the shop so fast
and bought another monkey boy
exactly like the last.

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST,Doggie grannie
Date: 23 Jun 15 - 08:10 AM

Mother to two who are now 46 and 44! They remember this song so well

I think I can add to this song:

There was a Mummy monkey, lived up in a big tall tree.
She lived with Daddy monkey, as happy as could be.
They had a baby monkey boy who was their joy and pride;
Now listen while I tell you how baby monkey died.

He was a little monkey boy, with a great long curly tail;
He went out for a walk one day and fell into a pail.
When Mummy monkey found him, she cried and cried and cried,
But when she fished him out again, quietly he died.

Now poor old Mummy monkey, she was so very sad,
She'd lost her little monkey boy, the only one she had.
So tying on her bonnet, she ran to the store so fast -
And bought another monkey boy, exactly like the last!

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: Mo the caller
Date: 24 Jun 15 - 04:52 AM

My mother sang all the time. Even walking down the street (to our embarrassment). Little snatches of song that seemed to fit the occasion.
Put your shoes on Lucy - that must have been in 1949 because I remember the garden I played barefoot in.
If I were a Blackbird.
Here we come a Wassailing.

Then we'd sing round the piano from a book of children's hymns (the green one with a picture of a baby playing the piano on the front, or the little hard-cover one with angels on).

And at the Christmas dinner table we'd go round and sing a song about the name of each family member. Hers was either
I'll take you home again Kathleen, or K K K Katy.
And for Auntie Vera - The great big saw (came nearer and nearer poor Vera).

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: 4ADiva
Date: 24 Jun 15 - 01:00 PM

My mother did not sing to me, nor did my father.

However, I sang for my son from before he was born.

When he was very small and couldn't understand lyrics, I often sang him Trevor Midgley's Roses of Eyam, just because it has a lot of verses and it's quiet and understated--perfect for sending a child to sleep. I guess it fits into that category of songs for children that actually have terrible stories/lyrics!

Later, I sang him The Rattlin Bog and Malvina Reynolds' Morningtown Train, which he renamed Train Whistle Blowing. Here in our local folk group, it seems everyone sang that one to their children and everyone changes the names in the song to fit the names of the child, parents, siblings, whatever. E.g.,

Bryn is at the engine, Mommy rings the bell
Daddy swings the lantern, to show that all is well

I even wrote him his own verse:

Freight train's a-coming, down the endless track
Engine keeps on pulling, never looking back
Box cars full of cartons, hoppers full of clay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles away

This tickled him to no end, because he was really into trains at that time and this gave him his very own verse in a train song! Also he loved using those special "train words" like "hoppers and "box cars."

He's graduating from high school next year and I hope he'll always carry with him the memory of me singing to him.

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST,Sol
Date: 24 Jun 15 - 06:00 PM

"Mairzy Doats"

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jun 15 - 07:44 PM

So lulla lulla lulla lulla bye bye
Do you want the stars to play with
Or the moon to run away with?
They'll come if you don't cry.
So lulla lulla lulla lulla bye bye
In your mammy's arms a'creepin'
Soon you'll be a-sleepin'
Singing lulla lulla lulla lulla bye.

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST,Lucky
Date: 06 Jul 16 - 11:56 AM

Gonna dance with the dolly with the hole in her stocking
While her knees keep a knocki and her toes keep a rockin
Gonna dance with the dolly with the holes in her stocking
Gonna dance by te light of the moon

Subject: RE: Songs Your Mother Sang to You
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Dec 21 - 11:15 AM

This is the closest version of the baby monkey song which my mother sang to us as children in the early sixties.Apparently her father sang the same childrens song to her as a young child. It is terribly sad