Lullabies - invisible doors to the past
Lullabies are sung all over the world to send children to sleep, rhymed and harmonious songs with often repetitive lines, sung by a mother or other relatives while rocking a baby is a tradition of many cultures that goes back to ancient times and
gets passed down over generations.
Besides well-known positive effects of lullabies on children such as creating an important bed time routine, the atmosphere of safety, strenthening the mother-child bond, assisting in early development of a child by stimulating their brain activity, there is one more thing that is not often mentioned: lullabies carry a wealth of experience in the area of traditions, customs, social life and history of a nation. We can find out what life was like back then by looking closer at lyrics of old lullabies.
Today I'm going to sing for you one of the oldest Russian lullabies and try to give you an impression of a traditional Russian family of those times by translating the lyrics in English.
Listen on Soundcloud
Зыбаю-колыбаю / I'm rocking you
отец ушел за рыбою / and father left to catch fish
мать ушла коров доить / mother left to milk cows
сестра ушла пеленки мыть. / and sister left to wash the diapers
Зыбаю-колыбаю / I'm rocking you
отец ушел за рыбою / and father left to catch fish
мать ушла коров доить / mother left to milk cows
а дедушка — дрова рубить. / and grandfather - to chop wood
Дедушка — дрова рубить / grandfather left to chop wood
да бабушка — уху варить / and grandmother - to cook chowder
Бабушка - уху варить / grandmother left to cook chowder
Да свою внученьку кормить / to feed her grandbaby
Бабушка — по ягодки / grandmother left to pick up berries
по ягодки, по сладеньки / berries, sweet berries
будем рыбоньку варить / we will cook the fish
да будем внученьку кормить / and feed our grandbaby
Детка спи и ты усни / sleep, baby, go to sleep
да угомон тебя возьми / settle down now
The drawing is made by @liverussian with coloured pencils
Here are all the lullabies sung by me:
Lullaby from a film "Ballad about lovers"
Sleep, my joy, sleep
Lullaby of Mother Bear
Such a lovely post dear @liverussian. It's easy to turn back time. This one here is from the place I come from. Love to share it with you :)
Oh, I'd love to listen to it!!!! But the video is not avaliable for some reason ((( I don't understand why, maybe you could give me another link @mendys-soul?
Oh, so sorry I just loved that version of that well known Cuban Lullabay. Here I'm sending you another one, the name of the song is "Drume Negrita". There are many other versions on Youtube too. It's funny, because I think you would rather dance instead of going to sleep when listening to it, so are we Cubans, kind of dancing our whole life :)
Ahaha, thank you so much for the video! You're right, you Cubans are more energetic than Russians ))) our lullabies are often sung without any music; they're calmer than yours. But, you know, I felt the tenderness in that Cuban lullaby!
Oh, I'm glad you liked it. I forgot to tell you, that I listen to your lullabies. You have a beautiful voice, and it was really lovely of you to sang them for us. I enjoyed them so much. I wish you an amazing life and lots of success.
Thank you for being so kind! I really apressiate it! Genuinely! And I wish you to meet lots of good people here, on steemit, as it happened to me and still happening )
What a wonderful drawing - the detail on the face is perfect, so adorable :) If I ever write a book of kid's poems I'll know exactly who to come to for the illustrations!
Thank you for sharing this lullaby as well, such a warm domestic scene. As with the Brodsky poems, its so great to get an insight into a literary and cultural heritage I wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.
I'm glad that the baby's face caught your attention, for it was the idea, that's why the rest looks more like kid's drawing )
Brodsky is just one of the diamonds in the chest of the Russian poetry ) especially the poets of so called silver century are remarkable!
The drawing is sweetly charming and the lullaby is certainly a window into the life of families in those days. You have a soothing singing style.
I sang many of the old standards, but also composed original lullabies for my son when he was an infant.
What a sweet lullaby. Loved the drawing too!
What a great post on so many levels :) I like the information, the illustration and the song itself. Thanks for sharing...
Full agreement with you - lullabies help your child not only fall asleep, but also develop. I always put lullabies for my son https://lullabies-for-babies.com/, he listens and smiles, even there are loved ones)