the.com/lullaby
A song engineered to defeat the very creature it sings to.
means A soft, soothing song sung to lull a child to sleep.
from Likely from the soothing syllable 'lull' — itself an imitation of the gentle 'lu-lu' sounds we make to quiet a baby — joined to 'bye,' probably another comforting sleep-sound (think 'bye-bye'). Some trace it to the murmured 'lulla, lulla' refrains of medieval cradle songs. So the word is built from the very noises crooned over a crib: it is, almost literally, the sound of hushing made into a name.
- Origin word
- From 'lull' plus 'bye,' a soothing goodbye to consciousness
- Dark lyrics
- Many traditional ones warn of falling cradles and bogeymen
- Universal tempo
- Cultures worldwide independently slow them to about 60 beats
- Brahms hit
- His 1868 lullaby still sells millions of music boxes
- Adult effect
- Studies show they lower heart rate in the singer too
brahms lullaby — johannes brahms' 1868 wiegenlied, the most famous lullaby worldwide
twinkle twinkle little star — english nursery rhyme lullaby dating to 1806, set to mozart's melody
rock-a-bye baby — american lullaby from 1765 new england, sung at countless bedtimes