Ridiculous! No posts since August, and so much has happened since then, not least the actual birth of my son. How could I have missed that off my fledgling parenting blog? What a terrible father!
Anyway, on with the post. Having left my third comment over at Offbeat Mama, I feel it's polite to have something to read for people who might click on my name there. If that's how you've come here, welcome.
Putting my son to sleep often involves singing, which is not something I've ever really done in front of other people before. I'm shy. However, I've found some good songs to lull my boy, here's my Top 5:
1) Down in the River to Pray - From the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. Replace 'sinners' with 'babies' and you're sorted
2) The Grey Funnel Line - I have to go to work and leave my wife at home with the baby. That sucks. This song makes it a little better
3) From Where I Lie / Sheepcounting - Had no idea how dark this was until I found the lyrics. Where did that shotgun come from?
4) Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old - Stephin Merritt is a total genius
5) Asleep and Dreaming - "I don't know if you're beautiful because I love you too much" Again with the genius
As you can see, they're not your traditional lullabies, but they're songs I like and songs I can remember. The weird thing is, Down in the River to Pray really really works. I usually save it until last. A couple of verses of that and he's out like a light.
I'm working on expanding my repertoire along similar lines, ie the O Brother soundtrack, British folk music and The Magnetic Fields. Any other suggestions of songs or artists would be welcome.
James
