Best Lullaby

[DavidM]

Time for a new list.

Let's start with this one;

Ian Dury, Lullaby for Francis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM_KYkXWHEc

[john poole]

Obvious ones first -

The Beatles - Good Night
Lullaby of Broadway (who could sleep with all that tap dancing?)

Doo-wop is perfect for lullabies -

The Ovations - 'My Lullabye'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGeeJ6Go2gc

[Jamie Renton]

African Fantasy - Trilok Gurtu featuring Angelique Kidjo. I'm not sure if it's lyrically a lullaby, but it certainly lulls me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDmsOp-ltZM

[judith]

The Japanese traditional "Yurikago no Uta" (If I've the title correctly) is one of my favorites. I found a poignant video which I think is beautiful - of a lady singing it quietly, as it would be sung to a child.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMWHyGAgF3k

Another is "Durme Durme". I think it may be Sephardic in origin. There are many versions of this song. My favorite is by Eliyahu Sills on "Tales of Taqim" (Rachel Valfer vocals?), which is not on YouTube.
Ensamble (sp?) Galileo in concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbsqp5JLT98

Also, "Durme Hermoza Donzeya" (Durme Hermosa Donzella), a version here by Judy Frankel (San Francisco's beloved Ladino singer who died in 2008). For lullabies, the Sephardic seem to be my favorites. There are many others...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZZ4kCeFMN4

And then there is a melody which I have heard and loved all my life, but not known it's name or origin. I had thought it was Chinese. Perhaps I first heard it on a music box in Chinatown (SF) when I was a child. I found it today on YouTube when I was looking for 'Chinese Lullaby'. It is a composition by Shakanov, titled "Lullaby" and seems to be based on an old folk song. From where, I don't know. The composition is played beautifully by Olga Shishkina on an ancient Russian instrument, the gusli:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDWwHONEvxY
Does anyone else recognize the melody, know anything about it?

I could probably go on forever here. I think I'll end with a song with roots much closer to home that I heard as a child. Whenever I hear Jimmie Rogers' voice, I see my grandfather's face. He loved to sing JR's songs.
"Sleep, Baby Sleep", Jimmie Rogers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqjvh8qZk0s

[Chris P]

Looking forward to trying out some of those links Judith.

I'll submit this Bill Caddick song as done by Christy Moore, but not the full song sadly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKYBQ2P9v54

arguably a bit politically dodgy esp. for Christy, but a beautiful tune

The enchanting arpeggiated melody is based on Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "The Pathetique", and is thought to have originated in either a Russian or Italian folksong

wiki

When midnight comes and people homeward tread [Alternate: When midnight comes good people homeward tread]
Seek now your blanket and your feather bed
Home comes the rover, his journey's over [Alternate: Home is the rover, his journey's over]
Yield up the night time to old John O' Dreams
Yield up the night time to old John O' Dreams

Across the hill, the sun has gone astray
Tomorrow's cares are many dreams away
The stars are flying, your candle is dying [Alternate: The stars are flying, the wind is sighing]
Yield up the darkness to old John O' Dreams
Yield up the darkness to old John O' Dreams

Both man and master in the night are one
All things are equal when the day is done
The prince and the ploughman, the slave and the freeman
All find their comfort in old John O' Dreams
All find their comfort in old John O' Dreams

When sleep it comes the dreams come running clear [Alternate: Now lies you sleep the dreams come winging clear]
The hawks of morning cannot reach you here [Alternate: The hawks of morning cannot harm you here]
Sleep is a river, flows on forever
And for your boatman choose old John O' Dreams
And for your boatman choose old John O' Dreams

When midnight comes and people homeward tread [Alternate: When midnight comes good people homeward tread]
Seek now your blanket and your feather bed
Home comes the rover, his journey's over [Alternate: Home is the rover, his journey's over]
Yield up the night time to old John O' Dreams
Yield up the night time to old John O' Dreams

[Chris P]

a composition by Shakanov, titled "Lullaby" and seems to be based on an old folk song. From where, I don't know. The composition is played beautifully by Olga Shishkina on an ancient Russian instrument, the gusli:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDWwHONEvxY
Does anyone else recognize the melody, know anything about it?

Lovely Judith. The performer has named her channel Olgagusli after the gusli & the instrument is similar to the kantele & others in the zither family. Recently I was watching Andrew Cronshaw playing kantele & various other zithers beautifully, but I hadn't noticed before this technique of using a pick in the right hand & plucking with the left's fingers - the angle the video is shot at is useful !

[Jamie Renton]

Howabout lullaby of Birdland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8cFdZyWOOs

[Gordon Neill]

Lucilla Galeazzi - Ninna Nanna Sopra La Romanesca, from the album All'Improvviso - Ciaccone, Bergamasche e un po' di Folie by L'Arpeggiata:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D4XIMsMvSc

It's gone very quiet in here, hasn't it? Nighty night......

[Rob Hall]

Andrew Cronshaw has a lullaby on his "Standing On The Shoulders Of Bears". It's titled 'Ema Haual/Hallilaul (Mother At The Grave/Lullaby)'. It's not on YouTube, but you can listen to it on Andrew's Facebook page here:
http://www.myspace.com/andrewcronshaw

[Rob Hall]

I've raved about the music in Robert Altman's "Kansas City" before. Here's the band from the film playing "Lullaby of the Leaves", probably my favourite lullaby tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpNUlF46i5w

Here it is being ripped up by the Ventures:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TgBCTyVii4

[judith]

Just quickly, as I have, ahem, other things to do so I'll listen to other's links later, etc - But how could I have forgotten this song, "Lullaby", by Zulya? I discovered it on a Putamayo compilation of lullabies and it was the search for more of Zulya's music which actually led me to my first compilation of Charlie's and thus to this forum.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biSI4tlvVsI

[Adam Blake]

Patti Smith wrote this for her two year old son. I think it's lovely:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OVnNePQPsQ

[DavidM]

There's a lovely sardinian lullaby on the album "Argia" by Alberto Balia & Enrico Frongia;
"Ninna Nanna a Cantare" (- ninna nanna being italian for lullaby). Unfortunately, I can't find a Youtube clip, but the best I can do is a 30 second snippet from Amazon;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B000050TD8/ref=pd_krex_dp_001_008?ie=UTF8&track=008&disc=001

Alberto Balia has a Myspace;
http://www.myspace.com/albertobalia

[NormanD]

Here are The Klezmatics, with their take on a Woody Guthrie yiddishe lyric, "Headdy Down":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzHXO-majNc

It's got me off to that strange world of sleep when my body has refused to go there.

[uiwangmike]

A sort of lullaby - very pretty anyway.
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=fhy8vwUb4uA