Hush, Little Baby
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird — and then some
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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
Hush, little baby, don't say a word,
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.
If that mockingbird won't sing,
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.
If that diamond ring turns to brass,
Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.
If that looking glass gets broke,
Mama's gonna buy you a billy goat.
If that billy goat won't pull,
Mama's gonna buy you a cart and bull.
If that cart and bull turn over,
Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.
If that dog named Rover won't bark,
Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cart.
If that horse and cart fall down,
You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town.
Hush, little baby, don't say a word,
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.
If that mockingbird won't sing,
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.
If that diamond ring turns to brass,
Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.
If that looking glass gets broke,
Mama's gonna buy you a billy goat.
Hush, little baby, don't feel down,
You're still the sweetest little baby in town.
So hush little baby, don't you cry,
Daddy loves you and so do I.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Hush, Little Baby" is an American lullaby of uncertain origin, first collected in print in the early twentieth century though almost certainly in oral circulation long before. It is a Southern American folk song, its language and imagery rooted in the rural American South: mockingbirds, billy goats, looking glasses, and dogs named Rover all belong to a specific domestic world.
The song operates on a charming and slightly absurdist logic: each promised gift fails in some way, requiring the next purchase. The mockingbird won't sing, the diamond ring turns to brass, the looking glass breaks, the billy goat won't pull. The parent's solution to each failure is simply to buy something else, creating an escalating series of increasingly impractical gifts.
This cumulative structure — each verse building on the last — keeps a restless child engaged even as the increasingly sleepy repetition of "Hush, little baby" works its quietening magic. The song makes no pretence of solving the baby's distress; it simply promises that something better is always coming, an approach to parenting that is both endearing and gently comic.
The warmth of the song lies in the absolute commitment of the parent: no matter what goes wrong, they will try again. Our traditional arrangement gives it the tender, lilting quality it deserves.
