Rock A Bye Baby

I’m totally traumatised today.  Like most babies, I have a lullaby CD that we sometimes listen to at bedtime.  Mummy and Daddy sometimes sing to me, but they don’t have a talent for it so I prefer the more tuneful version. So far, so what, I hear you say.  Well, today I actually listened to the lyrics!

Rock a bye baby on the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

That’s horrific!  The very stuff of nightmares!  Just think of the poor child crashing down, being crushed under the cradle.  I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again!

I googled the origins and there seems to be some debate although the most popular explanation is that it dates from the 1700s and native American Indians, who used to hang babies from the trees so the wind could rock them to sleep.  That part makes sense.  The Scandanavians do something similar with hammocks and in fact I slept in one for the first few months, but it was cloth and the rocking was down to me, when I moved, not the wind that could gust and send me clattering to an unceremonious end!

So, over to you; what are the most distressing or disappointing lyrics you’ve heard when you’ve listened properly?

CB