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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
This acoustic version of "Hush, Little Baby" presents the same beloved American lullaby in a stripped-back arrangement that places the melody and words at the centre without the fuller production of the standard recording.
"Hush, Little Baby" is a Southern American folk song of uncertain origin, first collected in print in the early twentieth century. Its cumulative structure — each promised gift failing and requiring the next purchase — creates a gentle, rolling momentum that works perfectly as a lullaby. The parent keeps promising, the song keeps going, and the baby is slowly lulled by the warm repetition of the melody.
The acoustic arrangement here uses minimal instrumentation to create an intimate, close-in sound, as if the song is being sung in the room next to where the child is sleeping. There is a particular warmth to an acoustic lullaby that a fuller arrangement cannot quite replicate: the space around the notes, the natural quality of the sound, the sense of a single human voice accompanied by something gentle and unhurried.
This version is especially suited to bedtime listening, when the elaborate promises of mockingbirds and diamond rings can be heard as the gentle, reassuring nonsense they are — a parent's voice, steady and warm, saying: whatever happens, I'm here.
