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request: rock and roll lullabyes

Remember Dave from Sketches of Strain? Dave doesn't blog anymore because he he's been busy making music. And now his old label has been talking to him about doing an album of lullabyes. He says every band has at least one great lullyabye. bq. me about doing an album of great lullabies. Every rock band has one. We're not looking for classics like, "Hush little baby/Don't say a word/Blah Blah Blah..." It would be a song of lullabies Moms we know would like to sing, like "MLK" by U2" or "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan. So he's asked me to ask you: What are some great rock and roll lullabyes (or is that lullabies?) I told him that you would supply many answers to this question. Because you will. By the way, Dave says hi to those who wonder about him. He's doing great; singing, writing songs and getting ready for grad school. He sends his love along with this request.

Comments

Here's one to get you started:
"Alright for Now"
Tom Petty, Full Moon Fever

Glad to hear that David is doing well! I'd wondered where he'd gotten off to.

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is "Rock a Bye Bye" by Extreme.

(I know, I know...)

Off the top of my head, there's

Lullabye by Billy Joel

and

St. Judy's Comet by Paul Simon

That's all I got....

"I Will Take You Home" - Grateful Dead. Lullabyes don't get much better than this one.

I used to sing "My Hometown" (Springsteen) as a lullabye, although it's stretching the definition.

"Safe Here" by Tenant's Union works.

"Lullaby," Sean Mullins.
"You're My Home," Billy Joel

"Yes It Is" by the Beatles.

"Lullabye" by Ben Folds Five

"When You Dream" by Barenaked Ladies

Of course, "St Judy's Comet" by Paul Simon

And for some reason, my daughter could usually be lulled to sleep while I sang "Brian Wilson", also by Barenaked Ladies.

hmm. Stairway to Heaven. Turn it down a bit when it goes into A.

Van Morrison hums a great tune on his "Sense of Wonder" CD called "Evening Meditation".

Life in a Northern Town - Dream Academy

Life in a Northern Town - Dream Academy

Sweet Child of Mine, Guns N Roses, sung in a hoarse, I-can't-believe-I'm-still-breastfeeding whisper

Off the top o' my dome, here are a few nice, quiet, pretty, lullaby-ish songs I'd certainly play for (or at least sing to) my own kid to get him into the sleepy mood:

Big Star "Blue Moon"
John Cole/Jeff Buckley "Hallelujah"
Elvis Presley "Love Me Tender"
Nick Drake "Northern Sky"
Eric Clapton "Wonderful Tonight"
Randy Travis "Forever And Ever Amen"
Beatles "Til There Was You"

Et cetera...

Nice!!

Bonus points to Peter for reminding me of that Big Star song!!

Thanks, guys!!

Much love to all who are bravely blogging onward.

When I have some songs worth hearing, I will maybe get an audioblog or sump'n.

I'll keep checking back.

Thanks again, Michele and all.

DF

The Grateful Dead's "Ripple" is an exceedingly beautiful lullaby.

Neil Young/Prelude: "After the Goldrush"
Tears for Fears/Gary Jules: "Mad World"
Don McLean: "Vincent"
Bruce Springsteen: "I'm on Fire"
Tori Amos: "Winter"

Lullabye, by Cracker (Gentleman's Blues)

Same band, and it isn't officially a lullabye, but I think it is anyway: Take Me Down To The Infirmary.

Ride On/AC-DC (Maximum Overdrive Soundtrack)
In Your Time & You'll Accompany Me/Bob Segar
Mandolin Rain/Bruce Hornsby
Rough Boy/ZZ Top
Morning has Broken/Cat Stevens(Pre-Stupidity)
Sunrise/Norah Jones
(Sorry for sliding way into mellow)

Michelle Shocked - The L & N Don't Stop Here Any More

"Grateful" - The Bangles

"Crystal Ship" by The Doors

Manu Chao - Bongo Bong
Nils Lofgren - Hi, Hello Home

"This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" - Talking Heads
"Julia" - The Beatles
"Sound-A-Sleep" - Blondie
"Wild Horses" - The Rolling Stones

When Boyo was a baby he didn't have a lot of white nights but when he did, even I tried singing:

Ripple, Grateful Dean, mostly the nah-nah-nah-nah-nah part. Thanks for remindin' me Dean.

Thunder Road, Springsteen.

Chicka Boom-The Groovie Ghoulies while you bounce just a little and do the standing rock back and forth thing...he'd listen to the chorus forever...which is good, cuz that's all I remember.

And Boyo was very fond of anything with a Texas Shuffle so just about anything by ZZ Top or Stevie Ray Vaughn.

House at Pooh Corner-Kenny Loggins because for some reason I can't explain I know all the words to it. The first time I remember Boyo giggling was when I was doing the "honey jar stuck on his nose" part.

Okay...he's only eight...why do I feel like time is moving too fast all of a sudden?

"Stay Free" - The Clash
really ... dump the guitars a ton and just murmer the words ...

Can't believe no one listed this one yet, but then again, it would be hard to top it in a redux.

Imagine - John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

Here's my entrants:

"Ooh La La" - The Faces
"Field of Diamonds" - Johnny Cash

((For the rock and roll challenged, "Ooh La la" is the Ron Wood/Ronnie Lane song now known for its chorus: "I wish I knew what I know now, when I was younger"))

Queensryche - "Silent Lucidity"
Coldplay - "Clocks"
Pink Floyd - "Comfortably Numb" ;)

Peter Gabriel -"Don't Give Up"

Nickel Creek - "Out of the Woods"

Oh, c'mon. How is it nobody's named...

Enter Sandman?

But seriously, when I'm out of my gourd trying to get the kids to crash, I stick to songs most self-respecting rockers would stay away from:

Jim Croce - Cat's in the Cradle
James Taylor - Sweet Baby James, Something in the Way She Moves
Simon and Garfunkel - pretty much anything
Billy Joel - any of his mellow stuff

and just about any love song from the early 90's

Sweet Child of Mine - Guns 'n' Roses
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Glycerine - Bush
Anything, Anything - Dramarama
Silent Lucidity - Queensryche
Long Way Down - Goo Goo Dolls
Somebody to Shove - Soul Asylum

Bizarre, yes. But both of my rock n roll children -- love that site, by the way loved all of the above sung a cappella while doing the "baby dance".

I'm with Keiran - maybe this makes me an old fart, but songs I sang to my babies (now grown):

James Taylor: You Can Close Your Eyes,

Something in the Way She Moves

Loggins & Messina: Danny's Song

Fleetwood Mac: Landslide

One of the most beautiful songs of all time: CSNY's The Lee Shore

Luna by Smashing Pumpkins could qualify. And I always thought The Smith's There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is sort of a lullaby.

And I'll back up the people mentioning Big Star's Blue Moon.

If Peter can suggest Randy Travis and Elvis Presley, then I feel justified in suggesting a few country tunes that I sang to my kids:

Willie Nelson -- "That's the Way Love Goes"
Jimmy Buffet -- "Stars Fell on Alabama," or my personal favorite, "Little Miss Magic":

She's constantly amazed by the blades of the fan on the ceiling,
The clever little glances she gives me can't help but be appealing,
She loves to ride into town with the top down,
Feel that warm breeze on her gentle skin,
She is my next of kin.

I see a little more of me every day,
I catch a little more mustache turning gray,
Your mother is the only other woman for me,
Little Miss Magic, what you gonna be?

I steadfastly maintain that "Rock-a-Bye" by that Sean Mullins chap is probably the worst fucking lullabye ever penned. What the hell was that man thinking?

From the Beatles --

I'm Only Sleeping
In My Life
Rain
Goodnight

From They Might Be Giants --

Sleepwalkers

I used to sing my kids "If I only had a brain" from The Wizard of Oz as a lullaby.

If you can find a copy, Disney For Our Children has some wonderful lullabies recorded by rock singers, such as "Goodnight My Love" by Paula Abdul, "Tell Me Why" by Pat Benatar, and "Golden Slumbers" by Jackson Browne and Jennifer Warnes.

Never commented here before, but I have one.

The unplugged version of Stone Temple Pilots "Plush". A classic song played either hard of soft.

End of the Line, Travelling Wilburys.

And I'd add to that, most songs sung by Roy Orbison, his voice was just perfect for the soft deep rumbles that are the best lullabye sounds.

"Didn't Leave Nothing But The Babe" sung by Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris and another chick whose name I can't remember.

Assuming that "Lullabye" means "something you might sing to someone at bedtime":

I second Peter's pick of "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley.

Others:
-"An Awful Mess" by The Softies
-"Lullabye" by Concrete Blonde
-Frente's cover of "Bizarre Love Triangle"
-The Sundays' cover of "Wild Horses"

"Wendell Gee" by R.E.M.

If it's taking awhile, "Here Comes a Regular" by the Replacements. It's long, and it's never too early to introduce them to alcoholic hopelessness.

Silent Lucidity - Queensryche

Hush now don't you cry
Wipe away the teardrop from your eye ...

Hey, Ryan-

"I steadfastly maintain that "Rock-a-Bye" by that Sean Mullins chap is probably the worst fucking lullabye ever penned. What the hell was that man thinking?"

You know, once upon a time, Mr. Mullins was a sweet-tempered, lanky, non-greasy, highly likeable guy from Atlanta who wrote fantastic songs. My old band opened for him a couple times at a club called Eddie's Attic in Decatur, GA.

Then he disappeared to L.A. and reappeared years later on Mtv, all greasy, bloated and Hollywood-ed out in leather pants and sunglasses inside and writing utter dreck(?!). Another casualty of the rock'n'roll star machine.

Sigh.

DF

The greatest rock lullaby of all time is Mark Lanegan's "Untitled Lullaby." It was on the first Free the West Memphis 3 benefit album.

Chilling and beautiful. Gorgeous stuff.

Cobby, the other chick is Gillian Welch. Dan, love that Sundays cover.

She's your baby - Ween (White Pepper)
Show me a smile - Fleetwood Mac (Future Games)
Spencer the Rover - John Martyn

someday never comes- ccr

Rock n Roll lullabye = Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Ballad = Suckville

My nominees-
"Polly" - Nirvana
"Cut Dead" - Jesus & Mary Chain

Childhood innocence is highly overrated. The sooner you become acclimated to the dark side the better.

  • St. Judy's Comet by Paul Simon
  • Woodstock, the Joni MItchell version
  • I'm Your Man, by Leonard Cohen (his own version, not Elton John's)
  • Everybody Knows, by Leonard Cohen (again, his own version rather than Don Henley's--and only for kids too young to figure out what the words mean.
  • Till the Morning Comes, the Dead (a few words could be changed, e.g.,
    "you're my baby now, make yourself easy")--and the arrangement would have to be toned down.

Traditional:
* Maid of Japan (Ella Jenkins)
* Pretty Trees around the World (Ella Jenkens)
* All the Pretty Little Horses
* Little Pierrot