Bourne, published in 1862, was composed for children to sing in support of the Union during the Civil War. For example, " Land of the Free," by Edward Roberts and William O. For school-age children, songs may be used to teach them about patriotism and current events. For example, " Diez perritos pequeños" (Ten little puppies), sung in Spanish by Señora Isabella Salazar, teaches children to count backwards from ten to zero. Songs that adults teach to older children include educational songs designed to teach counting, the alphabet, cultural awareness, or other subjects. Many game songs are composed and passed along by children. Alan Lomax, photographer Prints and Photographs Division, Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-00383. 1 African American children playing a singing game, Eatonville Florida, June 1935.
She puts coded information in the lullabies she sings, which helps her family to find and rescue her. It tells of a young Lebanese girl who is enslaved and made a nursemaid. The lullaby " Ughniyah li al-Atfal," sung in Arabic by the Lebanon-born Nicholas Debs of Jacksonville, Florida, and recorded in 1940, is said to be the story of an historic event in the fourteenth century, so the song itself may be many centuries old. Like all folk songs, lullabies are difficult to date. Another familiar lullaby, " All the Pretty little horses," expresses something that an adult may imagine that an infant might dream of, but that infants themselves would not understand. The lyric, "When the bough breaks the cradle will fall," would more likely induce nightmares than sweet dreams if the baby understood it. For example, the lyrics of "Rock-a-bye-baby" are disturbing if examined too closely.
SONGS ABOUT CHILDREN GROWING UP FREE
Parents are free to express frustration in their songs, especially while their children are too young to understand the words. Lullabies may express the frustrations of caring for an infant, have nonsensical lyrics, or have lyrics intended to entertain older children who may be present. Some have soothing rhythms for rocking a baby such as the Puerto Rican lullaby, " Niño Querido," sung by Cruz Losada, while others use a gently jostling rhythm, such as " Come up, Horsey, Hey, Hey," an African American lullaby sung by Vera Hall. Lullabies reflect various ideas about what will send an infant off to sleep. The songs adults and older siblings sing to infants are often designed to make the work of taking care of a child easier. She is introduced by folklorist Carita Doggett Corse. Helen Sarris, aged ten, sings a children's play song in Greek. and Alan Lomax in San Antonio, Texas, May 1934.Ī game song sung by Viola Brown and Otto Washington of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Lura May Jumper sings a traditional Seminole children's song, in an interview with Robert Cornwall, 1940.Ī children's game song sung in Spanish by Josephine and Aurora Gonzalez, Pearl Manchaco, Lia Trujillo, and Adela Flores. Included are nursery rhymes and the songs "London Bridge is falling down" and "Three blind mice" performed by William F. Playlistįive recordings from Library of Congress collectionsĪn early example of a sound recording for children.
These distinctions are not always clear cut, however, as adults may teach children songs that they learned from other children in childhood, and children may pass along songs learned from adults to other children. Children's songs may include songs that adults sing or teach to children, songs children pass along to each other, and songs that children compose themselves.