Lyrics Versions: Brahms' Lullaby

Subject: Brahms Lullaby
From:
Date: 08 Oct 98 - 01:45 PM

Does any body no the lyrics to Brahms (sp) Lullaby

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: malena
Date: 08 Oct 98 - 04:53 PM

What exactly do you mean by Brahms Lullaby?

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Wolfgang Hell
Date: 08 Oct 98 - 05:25 PM

this is what I found entering Brahms + Wiegenlied into a search machine. No idea whether it is close to what you are looking for, Garrison.

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Alice
Date: 08 Oct 98 - 05:46 PM

All I can think of is the first words "Lullaby, and goodnight..." didn't find it in the database, and right now can't remember the rest. May be able to get back to you on this.

alice

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Alice
Date: 08 Oct 98 - 05:53 PM

Found it in a few seconds with an AltaVista search on the words "lullaby and goodnight". The page address is:

http://hendersonville-pd.org/nurserylullaby.html

alice in montana

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Barbara
Date: 09 Oct 98 - 12:02 AM

Lullaby and goodnight,
With the roses in sight
And the clover, all around,
You will sleep safe and sound.
And when day starts to break
You will once more awake,
And when day starts to break
You will once more awake.

Those words?
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: BSeed
Date: 09 Oct 98 - 02:34 AM

Those are the words, Barbara, and a lovely lullaby it is. Bless YOU. --seed

Subject: Lyr Add: GUTEN ABEND, GUTE NACHT / BRAHMS' LULLABY
From: AndreasW
Date: 09 Oct 98 - 03:28 AM

This is the "original" version, as Brahms was German-speaking.

Brahms: GUTEN ABEND, GUTE NACHT

Guten Abend, gute Nacht,
Mit Rosen bedacht,
Mit Näglein besteckt,
Schlupf unter die Deck'
Morgen früh, so Gott will,
Wirst du wieder geweckt.
Morgen früh, so Gott will,
Wirst du wieder geweckt.

Guten Abend, gute Nacht,
Von Englein bewacht,
Die zeigen im Traum
Dir Christkindleins Baum.
Schlaf nun selig und süß,
Schau im Traum's Paradies.
Schlaf nun selig und süß,
Schau im Traum's Paradies.

cu, Andreas

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: malena
Date: 09 Oct 98 - 01:20 PM

I guess every German knows it as a kid´s song/folksong/lullaby, but who ever knew it was by Brahms? Good on you, Andreas, did you remember all the words by heart or did you look it up? Daniel

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: AndreasW
Date: 12 Oct 98 - 04:39 AM

It is too long since I was a kid to remember all the words, and I do not yet have my own kids, so I have to admit that I had to look up the second verse.

cu, Andreas

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Barbara
Date: 12 Oct 98 - 06:56 AM

Whereas, as an American kid growing up, I knew the name of that particular lullaby was "Brahms Lullaby" long before I had a clue who Brahms was. My mother sang it, and that's how we asked for it.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: malena
Date: 12 Oct 98 - 03:13 PM

Andreas, I wouldn´t even have remembered the first verse, that is, everthing except the third line. "Mit Näglein besteckt", is that some kind of sadistic ritual? Does it really say "Näglein"??? (Oder Nelklein oder so?, to all non-germanistics: to me that means something like "pierced with nails...")

Barbara, funny that Americans have Brahms in the name, while Germans usually know the song and know who Brahms was but would never make a connection between these (unless there experts)...

Daniel

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: AndreasW
Date: 13 Oct 98 - 01:41 AM

I never thought about the meaning of the text until now.
I looked it up, and wherever I looked (on the web, in a book)
it says "Mit Näglein besteckt"
Perhaps these small nails (Näglein) are the thorns of the Roses?
I don't know, sorry.
cu,Andreas

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Wolfgang
Date: 13 Oct 98 - 07:00 AM

that was an unsolved riddle for me when I was young and it still is.

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 13 Oct 98 - 05:11 PM

I know it wouldn't be good writing, but could the nails be stuck in the bed or cradle? Perhaps for decoration?

Does anyone know who wrote the German words?

Does anyone know whether this is really by Brahms, or is it a folk song he arranged, like "Da unten im Tale", "Mein Maedel hat ein Rosenmund", and others?

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Jerry Friedman again
Date: 13 Oct 98 - 05:12 PM

And is anyone willing to provide a translation into English?

Subject: Lyr Add: GUTEN ABEND, GUTE NACHT / BRAHMS' LULLABY
From: AndreasW
Date: 14 Oct 98 - 05:04 AM

I am willing, my attempt at a translation
I did not try to make it into rhymes,
I tried to get a translation quite near the German version.
But please consider: I only learned English at school ;-)
(translation in italic)

Brahms: Guten Abend, Gute Nacht

Guten Abend, gute Nacht,
   Good Evening, good night
Mit Rosen bedacht,
   given roses
Mit Näglein besteckt,
   stabbed with small nails
Schlupf unter die Deck'
   slip under your coverlet
Morgen früh, so Gott will,
   tomorrow morning if God likes
Wirst du wieder geweckt.
   you will be woken again.
Morgen früh, so Gott will,
   tomorrow morning if God likes
Wirst du wieder geweckt.
   you will be woken again.

Guten Abend, gute Nacht,
   Good Evening, good night
Von Englein bewacht,
   guarded by small angels
Die zeigen im Traum
   who show in your dream
Dir Christkindleins Baum.
   to you Christ baby's small tree
Schlaf nun selig und süß,
   sleep now blessedly and sweetly
Schau im Traum's Paradies.
   Look into dream's paradise
Schlaf nun selig und süß,
   sleep now blessedly and sweetly
Schau im Traum's Paradies.
   Look into dream's paradise



cu, Andreas

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Wolfgang
Date: 15 Oct 98 - 03:52 PM

Jerry, verse 1 comes from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn", a very old song collection, so it is definitely trad/anon, verse 2 has been added by Georg Scherer.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 15 Oct 98 - 06:21 PM

Danke schön, Andreas und Wolfgang!

I'm still wondering about the nails. Could the thing covered with roses and stuck with nails be the blanket (or coverlet)? Back when the verses in Des Knaben Wunderhorn were written, did people nail the blanket to the crib (leaving one side open to slip the baby under), by any chance? Or does the German have to mean that the baby has been stuck with nails? Yuck. Unless there's supposed to be a connection with the Christ child?

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 07 Mar 99 - 06:40 PM

This seems to be my day for Brahms. If anyone still cares--I recently saw a translation (in the liner notes to Twilight and Innocence, an album by Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano, and Kevin Murphy, piano). They translated "Naeglein" as "carnations". So Daniel Malena was on the right track. I guess the connection is that carnations smell like cloves, and cloves look like nails. After all, one English name for carnations--clove pinks--comes from the French word for nail--clou.

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Wolfgang
Date: 19 Mar 99 - 08:19 AM

I asked Frank Petersohn (ingeb.org) who knows more about German folk than most others. His explanation: "N„glein" is Suebian dialect for "Nelklein", i.e. "kleine Nelken" and that's carnations (the flowers). So the suspicious line means "decorated with flowers", a better fit for a lullaby than "pierced with nails", if I may add: even for a German lullaby!

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Bri
Date: 21 Mar 99 - 12:40 PM

The words I always knew were:

Lullaby and good night,
With roses bedight,
With lilies bedeck,
The baby's sweet head!
Lay thee down now and rest,
May thy comfort be blessed,
Lay thee down now and rest,
May thy comfort be blessed.

Is that wrong, because Barbara's were different?

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Barbara
Date: 22 Mar 99 - 01:42 AM

Bri, they're all translations from the German, and there are German variations as well. I don't think there's right words, just the ones you know, or the ones I know. Someone in search of a doctoral thesis topic could try to put the German variations, and the English ones in chronological order, to see how it evolved, and we would still just have a time consuming proof that this is indeed a folksong.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: GUEST,Yovanny
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 11:49 AM

i think all of u have a valid point no matter how we see this composicion. it is interesting how it let us to different thoughts regarding that just a simple word gave us the idea that it was related to 'Christ'..like Jerry Friedman said..

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: masato sakurai
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 12:18 PM

Score is at The VARIATIONS Online Score Prototype - Song Literature - Brahms Lieder, Band II.

Op. 49, No. 4. Wiegenlied.

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: masato sakurai
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 12:37 PM

Grainger, Free Settings & Favorite Melodies for Piano Solo: Nr. 1. Cradle-Song (Wiegenlied) by J. Brahms [score]

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: masato sakurai
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 12:43 PM

Cradle Song - Johannes Brahms [gif] (score with English words).

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Leadfingers
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 02:19 PM

Back when I was playing Jazz clarinet I was sat in with a German Band in the Jazz Club in Moenchen Gladbach . The Banjoist said "Terry you
will know this next one,its an old English folk Song" Guess What !!
Brahms Bleeding Lullaby done as a STOMP !!! (in Bflat)

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: ranger1
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 07:36 PM

My mom always sang us a rather twisted version that went like this:

Go to sleep, little creep,
Or I'll bash your front teeth in.
Drink your bat's blood
And your goat's milk
Like a good monster should.

Not nearly as nice as the original.

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 09:01 PM

I always knew these words. I have no idea where they came from.

Lullaby and good night
Go to bed now and sleep tight.
Close your eyes and start to yawn,
Do not wake again 'til dawn.
All your toys are in bed,
They are resting and dreaming.
Snuggle tight, say goodnight,
For it's time you were dreaming too.

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Wolfgang
Date: 12 Feb 04 - 06:02 AM

The German word 'Nelke' has also another meaning beside carnation: clove
The scent of the clove is used in Germany to shy away the midges.

So the line 'mit Naeglein besteckt' also could mean that the mother has ensured her baby's sleep by putting some clove to the upper part of his bed to help him sleeping.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: cetmst
Date: 14 Feb 04 - 06:13 AM

Priscilla Herdman on her Star Dreamer album sings words attributed to William Engvick to Brahms' tune:

Close your eyes, close your eyes, go to sleep now my darling.
There's a sandman, old and wise, bringing happy dreams to you.
Settle down and go to sleep 'til the quiet night passes.
You are safe in my arms, in my arms all night through.

Now the moon, riding high, turns the shadows to silver.
And the night winds, with a sigh, whisper soft across the hill.
It's a bright enchanted land where the unicorn dances
'Til the stars disappear and the whole world is still.

Words not as inspired as the original German or the English translation my mother sang us to sleep with a few years back. She learned it from a record played on a wind-up Victrola her mother had before the manse where I was born in the 1920's was wired for electricity. The Star Dreamer album, IMHOP, is the best collection of lullabies recorded and Priscilla Herdman's one of the loveliest voices for singing lullabies though Custer LaRue's album is also
delightful.

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: masato sakurai
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 10:10 PM

Cradle song - Wiegenlied / by Joh. Brahms [sheet music, with German & English lyrics] (Philadelphia: Andre & Co., G., 1873) is at American Memory.

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: Fibula Mattock
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 04:54 AM

Unless there's another Brahm's lullaby that I don't know, isn't this the cloying and downright creepy tune that my mother used to sing (sorry ma!):

Slumber sweetly my dear,
For angels are near
To watch over you
The silent night through.
And to bear you above,
To the dreamlands of love.
And to bear you above,
To the dreamlands of love.

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: nutty
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 07:08 AM

I remember the whole thing as ......................
   

    Roses whisper "goodnight"
    'Neath silv'ry light
    Asleep in the dew
    They hide from our view
    When the dawn peepeth thro'
    God will awaken them, and you.

    Slumber sweetly my dear,
    For angels are near
    To watch over you
    The silent night thro'
    And to bear you above
    To the dreamland of love.

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: nutty
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 07:09 AM

PS ... the last two lines of each verse are repeated

Subject: RE: Brahms Lullaby
From: clueless don
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 02:06 PM

I learned the following version from my wife. It's similar to Mary in Kentucky's version:

Lullaby, and good night
go to bed now and sleep tight
close your eyes, start to yawn
pleasant dreams until the dawn
when the sun lights the sky
you'll awake feeling high
start your day with a smile
life is always worthwhile

Don't know the original source, but I like it. I've sung it to my daughter any number of times.

Don

---

Messages from multiple threads combined. Messages below are from a new thread.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Tune Req: Brahms Lullaby
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 31 May 04 - 05:56 AM

Help, can anyone supply the dots for this great tune, or point me to where I can find them.

Thanks in advance, eric

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Brahms Lullaby
From: masato sakurai
Date: 31 May 04 - 07:25 AM

I've given some links to scores at Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Brahms Lullaby
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 31 May 04 - 10:20 AM

Many thanks Masato, I've just been listening to the version by David Grisman and Jerry Garcia, wonderful.

eric

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Brahms Lullaby
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 31 May 04 - 01:07 PM

Found a lot of sheet music, but not free. A freeabc notation: search for Wiegenlied on this spage, with the second click you're there. Easy to read, if you've studied the principles of transliteration before.

Enjoy, but don't fall asleep before end
Wilfried

Subject: Lyr Req: BRAHAMS LULLABY
From: GUEST,SHANNON LEDFORD
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 04:00 PM

I THINK IT STARTS OUT... LULLABY AND GOODNIGHT, MAY GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU... (BUT IAM NOT SURE. MAYBE JUST MYMOMS WORDS.) PLESE HEL! THANKS,SHNNON

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 04:05 PM

Hi, Shannon - I moved you over here. You'll find various versions of the lyrics above.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: KateG
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 05:06 PM

I like "with roses in sight" better than the "with roses bedight" that I learned as a child. I knew that "bedight" was a corruption of the german "bedacht" (we had a Swiss-German neighbor who would sing it to her little girl and me in German), but it never made sense in english. And I like the carnations better than lilies, too, even if they don't scan in English. Much less funereal.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 05:55 PM

Hi, Kate - my dictionary says "bedight" is an archaic English word for "arrayed" or "decked out" - but I admit that I've seen this word only in this one song, and I'm sure "bedight" and "bedacht" come from the same root.

But how would you translate, "Mit Näglein besteckt"? "Stuck with nails/thorns" is all I can come up with - and ya can't sing that in English-speaking lands and get away with it.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: Wolfgang
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 11:17 AM

Joe,

look here at the German song Es dunkelt schon in der Heide, last verse: 'Braunnägelein' are 'Gewürznelken' and I'm close to 100 % sure that 'Nägelein' in this song here is just short for Braunnägelein

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 12:47 AM

The words I learned are close to Bri's (from 1999, above):

Lullabye, and good night
With roses bedight
With lilies o'erhead
Make baby's sweet bed
Lay thee down now and rest
May thy slumbers be blest
Lay thee down now and rest
May thy slumbers be blest

I believe it was from a beginning piano book that had the notes in different colors, which corresponded to a chart that you wedged behind the black keys so it matched up with the keys on the piano. We're probably talking 1958 or 1959 here.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: Lyr Add: BRAHMS' LULLABY
From:
Date: 29 Nov 04 - 09:16 PM

The correct words to the song Brahms' Lullaby are:

Lullaby and good night,
With roses bedight.
With lilies o'er spread,
Is baby's wee bed.
Lay thee down now and rest.
May thy slumber be blessed.
Lay thee down now and rest.
May thy slumber be blessed.

Lullaby and goodnight,
Thy mother's delight.
Bright angels beside
My darling abide.
They will guard thee at rest.
Thou shall wake on my breast.
They will guard thee at rest.
Thou shall wake on my breast.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,K. O'Brien
Date: 14 Dec 04 - 09:38 PM

I disagree with the translation of "Mit Rosen bedacht" as "given roses" and that "bedight" (Eng.) and "bedacht" (Ger.) may come from the same root.

"Bedight" (now obsolete) means to prepare or set in order and comes from the Anglo-Saxon "dihtan" (to compose, write, arrange). I don't have a German dictionary with word origins, but "bedenken" is probably related to the A-S root "thencan" (to think). If a translator changed "bedacht" to "bedight", they were probably translating phoenetically--that's how we ended up with "cole slaw" instead of "Kohlsalat" (cabbage salad).

"Mit rosen bedacht" might best be translated as "with roses in mind". "Bedacht" is the past participle of the irregular verb "bedenken" (think of English irregular verbs like "go" [went, gone]; "drive" [drove, driven], etc.). "Bedenken" means to consider, think over, reflect on, keep in mind ("denken" is to think). So the writer seems to be telling the child to think about roses while falling asleep.

"Nägelchen" is the German word for clove (or cloves). In German, "chen" or "lein" can be added to other words to make them diminuitive..."Frau" (woman) + lein = "Fräulein" (girl); "Brot" (bread) + "chen" = "Brötchen" (roll); "Nagel" (nail) + chen = "Nägelchen" (tack, brad). "Nägelchen" is a dialectical word for "clove" (maybe since a clove looks like a little nail or tack), and Brahms may have used the "lein" instead of the "chen" ending when forming the diminuitive. The endings aren't really interchangable, but we can grant him poetic license. Therefore, the "clove" translation seems to make more sense than the "little nails" or "carnations" theories espoused above (even moreso if it's true what the writer above says about cloves in the bed to ward off bugs). The "nails" translation just doesn't make any sense and the "carnations" seem to be a stretch from "Nelke" to "Nägelchen." And why would the author say "covered with carnations" when he's just said "with roses kept in mind"? The German-to-English translator(s) may have thought "clove" wouldn't make sense outside of the German culture, so "clover", "carnation", "lilies", etc., may have been substituted with poetic license.

Just my two cents worth, from a 2nd-year (adult) German student.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Dec 04 - 12:52 AM

All of the English lyrics are modifications of the German, there is no 'correct' translation.The arrangers have attempted to fit English to the melody, and the German words written by Brahms, and have had to depart from any straight literal translation.
Most people have no idea of the problems faced by translators of poems or songs- word for word translation is impossible. See Andreas W above.   

The bedacht to bedight transfer appears in the English lyrics of 1873 (and 1868), by Auber Forestier, linked by Masato above; most singers have followed. I can't think of a better solution that also fits the notes of the melody.
The words following 'bedacht' are- "mit Näglein besteckt schlupf' unter die Deck'"- this does not translate as "Creep into thy bed, There pillow thy head." Closely translated, it is- garnished (clad) in pinks (nightdress), sleeping under the covers. The English words get the idea of sleeping across although the covers and the baby's night dress get left out and a bed is introduced.
Note that I am translating 'näglein' as pinks, an accepted meaning in one of my German-English dictionaries, and guessing that it would have been an idiom for a baby's night clothes when the song was written. I also assume that näglein is an alternate spelling. These assumptions may be in error, but without an idiomatic German dictionary for the 1860s, I can't be sure.

"Wiegenlied" is one of five solo songs in Brahms' Opus 49. He wrote many songs; 125 were published in groups of four to nine.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: Wolfgang
Date: 15 Dec 04 - 05:52 AM

"Bedacht" is the past participle of the irregular verb "bedenken" (K. O'Brien)

Yes, but it is also the past participle of the regular verb 'bedachen' (to cover with a roof) and an adjective ('circumspect'), so there is a lot room for further interpretations.

However, I agree that it is here probably the past participle of 'bedenken', but not with the in dictionaries first listed meaning of "think of" or "take into consideration" but in an old obsolete meaning which is translated in my dictionary as "shower somebody with gifts" or "give something to somebody".

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 16 Dec 04 - 05:20 AM

Bedacht - Wolfgang's covered with a roof is a fine solution. One would expect bedeckt (covered), but it must rhyme to Nacht
Since bedacht is also part. perf. pass. of bedenken, the better posibility is: bedenken mit = to give someone something, as Wolfgang puts it. I don't think it is obsolete; one may hear it seldom, but it still in use.

Nägelein, Braunnägelein = Nelke (carnation). Nägelein = dim. of Nagel (nail) because of the form of the clove (fruit of the carnation), with inversion of the liquid and the guttural. Braun = brown.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,Lucy aka The Food Lady
Date: 11 Jul 05 - 02:43 PM

Okay, so I've jumped into this discussion WAY late, but I'm about to be making a tape for some friends to play to our guinea pig, Harry, while we're away on vacation of me singing his favorite lullabyes (to which he always quits whatever he is doing and settles down and YAWNS really big several times!). I sing to Harry just before saying goodnight to our daughter (his cage is in her room); and even when I sang "Lullabye and Goodnight" to our daughter, I never knew all the words and just either hummed the last part or made up something like: I don't know, any more words, so you're stuck, with half a tune. I hope you're asleep, by the time I end, or into nightmare land, my rhymes will send. But Clueless Don's version really is so very close to what I remember from my own childhood. The first half is identical except we always sang "AND start to yawn" and the second half I like so much, I'm going to commit it to memory and begin using it all the time! Thanks!

Lullaby, and good night
go to bed now and sleep tight
close your eyes, and start to yawn
pleasant dreams until the dawn

when the sun lights the sky
you'll awake feeling high
start your day with a smile
life is always worthwhile

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: PoohBear
Date: 11 Jul 05 - 03:38 PM

The only phrase I know is "Lullaby, and good night. Shut your big blood shot eyes. . . " Can't remember which cartoon that it was in, but I have a suspicion it's Bugs Bunny and Co.
PB

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 11 Jul 05 - 03:49 PM

Well, me Da used to sing these words when I was a nipper:

Sleep my little one, sleep
Fond virgil I keep.
Lie soft on thy side
And by thee I shall abide.

When the dawn tints the skies
God will bid thee arise
When the dawn tints the skies
God will bid thee arise.

Anyone else know this version?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Oct 07 - 06:54 AM

my grandad used to sing something like this to me when i was small but it also had "when the moon tints the sky, God will bid thee goodnight. I think!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,Daughtersong
Date: 27 Mar 08 - 03:39 PM

I sang this to my daughter for years. We have just been discussing it. My version is as follows:

Sleep my little one, sleep
Fond virgil I keep.
Lay warm in thy bed
?? Not sure but probably 'Angels singing round thy head'

When the dawn tints the sky
God will bid thee arise
When the dawn tints the sky
God will bid thee arise.

Holy angels abide
All night by thy side
In dreams they unfold
Heaven's portals of gold

Slumber softly and rest
In thy dreamland so blest
Slumber softly and rest
In thy dreamland so blest

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST
Date: 07 May 08 - 11:04 AM

I learnt these when i was singing in a choir. This version is:

Slumber softly, my love
Neath the roses above
Carnations will bloom
sweetly watching o'er thy room
when the morning will come
god will wake thee again
when the morning will come
god will wake thee again

Slumber softly, my love
white angels above
shall lead thee to bowers
of heavens greatest flowers
thou shalt stay by the stream
in the garden of dreams
thou shalt stay by the stream
in the garden of dreams

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 09:54 PM

lullaby and goodnight go to sleep now my darling
there's a sandman dressed in white bringing happy dreams to you.
So close your eyes and go to sleep until the quiet night passes
You are safe in my arms in my arms all night long

Now the moon is riding high
and turns the shadows to silver
don't know this line
whispers softly through the trees
It's a quiet enchanted night where the unicorn dances
don't know the rest

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,Me
Date: 08 Jul 09 - 08:12 PM

I sing this to my daughter all the time...that and "go to sleep my baby"!

This version is by John Schaum in his beginners piano books (I think it is the red book!) and I learned it as a child playing piano, as will my oldest daughter as she is learning the Schaum method too.

Lullaby, and goodnight,
Go to bed now and sleep tight,
Close your eyes, start to yawn,
Pleasant dreams until the dawn,
When the sun meets the sky,
You will wake feeling spry,
Greet the day with a smile,
Life is really worthwhile.

Subject: Lyr Add: CRADLE SONG / WIEGENLIED (Johannes Brahms
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 11:55 AM

From The Assembly Hymn and Song Collection by C. Guy Hoover (Chicago: Published by the author, 1915) – where it is printed with musical notation for 4 voices:

CRADLE SONG. (WIEGENLIED.)
Arr. from Johannes Brahms.

Lullaby and goodnight!
With roses bedight!
With down overspread,
Is baby's wee bed.
Lay thee down now and rest.
May thy slumbers be blest.
Lay thee down now and rest.
May thy slumbers be blest.

Lullaby and goodnight!
Thy mother's delight!
Sweet visions untold
Thy soul shall unfold.
God will keep thee from harms.
Thou shalt wake in my arms.
God will keep thee from harms.
Thou shalt wake in my arms.

Subject: Lyr Add: LULLABY (Federlein, Brahms)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 12:20 PM

From The Michigan University Song Book by Franklin Wagner (New York: Hinds, Noble & Eldredge, 1904) – where it appears with musical notation for 4 voices:

LULLABY.
English Version by Mrs. G. Federlein. Johannes Brahms.

Lullaby, my dear one,
The daylight is done;
The flowers so fair
Thy rest will now share.
Till tomorrow, oh, sleep,
While the angels watch keep.
Till tomorrow, oh, sleep,
While the angels watch keep.

Lullaby, my dear one,
The darkness has come;
In dreams shalt behold
Sweet stories of old.
With His love pure and mild
God shall guard thee, my child.
With His love pure and mild
God shall guard thee, my child.

Subject: Lyr Add: SLUMBER SONG (John Erwin, Johannes Brahms
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 12:41 PM

From 140 Folk-songs with Piano Accompaniment by Archibald Thompson Davison, Thomas Whitney Surette (Boston: E. C. Schirmer Music Co., 1921) – where it appears with musical notation for one voice and piano:

SLUMBER SONG.
[English words] John Erwin. [Music] Johannes Brahms.

Hushaby and goodnight.
In the sky stars are bright,
While roses in bloom
Fill with fragrance the room.
With the morn, if God will,
You will waken again.
With the morn, if God will,
You will waken again.

Hushaby; have no fear.
Little angels are near.
Their watch they will keep
While my baby's asleep.
Dream the dark night away
Till God's sun brings the day.
Dream the dark night away
Till God's sun brings the day.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jul 10 - 05:31 AM

my mum used to sing
go to sleep my dear one...
let the angels above.....

now i cant remember the next bit but then

when the sun lights the sky ...
open wide your (brown/blue ) eyes

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 05 Jul 10 - 09:09 AM

Somehow it is not as pretty in German.
I sang this to our foster daughter and changed the last line to: "Don't get out of that damned bed" she would giggle and then sleep like a log.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,Kempis
Date: 12 Sep 10 - 02:40 AM

This is I remember from years ago.
Slumber sweetly my dear
for angels are near
to watch over you
the silent night through
and to bear you above
to the dream land of love
and to bear you above
to the dreamland oflove

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,father's son
Date: 11 Nov 10 - 11:18 PM

much to my mother's horror, these are the lyrics my dad would sing to us kids:

go to sleep little creep
i'm tired and i'm beat
go to sleep little creep
...before i hit you
in the nose break your toes
and your mother won't know
that your eyes black and blue
because i hit you with my shoe

and of course, i'll be passing this on to my kids

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,joanna
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 08:02 PM

My British grandmother used to sing this version:

Sleep my little one, sleep
Over watch I will keep
Stay warm in your nest
While moonbeams caress
When the dawn tints the sky,
May God bid thee arise
When the dawn tints the sky,
May God bid thee arise.

Holy angels abide,
May they watch by your side
In dreams they uphold
Heaven's portals of gold.
When the dawn tints the sky,
May God bid thee arise
When the dawn tints the sky,
May God bid thee arise.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,Teresa
Date: 11 Mar 11 - 12:16 AM

This version has been passed down in my family for many years:

Lullaby, and goodnight,
in the soft evening light,
like a rose is in its bed,
lay down your sweet head.
When the morning is here,
I will wake you my dear,
when the morning is here,
I will wake you my dear.

Lullaby, and goodnight,
let the angels of light
bring in dreamland, for thee,
the Christ child on tree;
go to sleep, close your eyes,
dream of sweet paradise,
go to sleep, close your eyes,
dream of sweet paradise.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,Steve
Date: 06 Apr 11 - 08:23 AM

Does anyone know if it could have been a pre-existing folk tune that Brahms based his version on?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 03:23 PM

OK - this has been very fullsome, but I'm looking for confirmation that this alternative version is not unique to a friend's family!!!

Go to sleep, you little creep,
May your dreams all be nightmares,

[missing a bit to last line...]

And your teddy bear shall die!

I'm sure this can not be unique - or at least i hope not!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 10 Sep 19 - 02:39 PM

I was looking for references to
the late Frank Petersohn,
and came across this thread with its
pondering of whether the cradle is 'besteckt'
with flowers or with little bitty nails.

You all know more about the German than I do,
so I defer to your contributions.
Since you mentioned carnations along with nails, though:

I was reminded of the Spanish language.
The problems are similar.
'Clavo' is both 'nail' and 'clove.'
'Clavel' and 'clavelito,' however.
refers to carnations.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Brahms' Lullaby
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Sep 19 - 08:01 AM

Well, there's a tradition in lullabies - mama gets to sing sweetly about all the vengeful stuff she's gonna do to the little darling if it doesn't stop crying.
But the translation is left to the listener. Stuck with little nails or little cloves (like a ham?).
I know which one I hear.

Subject: RE: Lyrics Versions: Brahms' Lullaby
From: Joe_F
Date: 11 Sep 19 - 09:11 PM

Indeed, in _The Annotated Mother Goose_ we read:

Baby, baby, naughty baby,
Hush, you squalling thing, I say.
Peace this moment, peace, or maybe
Bonaparte will pass this way.

Baby, baby, he's a giant,
Tall and black as Rouen steeple,
And he breakfasts, dines, rely on't,
Every day on naughty people.

Baby, baby, if he hears you,
As he gallops past the house,
Limb from limb at once he'll tear you,
Just as pussy tears a mouse.

And he'll beat you, beat you, beat you,
And he'll beat you into pap,
And he'll eat you, eat you, eat you,
Every morsel snap, snap, snap.

Subject: RE: Lyrics Versions: Brahms' Lullaby
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 11 Sep 19 - 09:28 PM

At her archive for lieder lyrics,
archivist Emily Ezust
also adds lyric translations,
including translations of her own.


She lists her own English translation for the
"Wiegenlied" with its origins
in Des Knaben Wunderhorn.

And her position is that
Näglein are
carnations.

Subject: RE: Lyrics Versions: Brahms' Lullaby
From: Mo the caller
Date: 12 Sep 19 - 09:43 AM

The version we learnt at school started
Little baby goodnight
????????? light

And the last , repeated lines were
So goodnight, rest at ease
Till to wake you god please.