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As universal as they are, it is not certain where the first lullaby originated. According to the Hebrew tradition, the term ‘lullaby’ derives from ‘Lilith-Abi’, a call to drive away the monster that steals children’s souls while they sleep. The Babylonians used lullabies as charms protecting children from evil spirits.

Madalasa, a learned woman in Ancient India, sang to her children in the Markandeya Purana, one of the oldest Vedas from 250 CE, giving them the message of purity, rather than attachment to material goods:

“You are pure, enlightened, and spotless. Leave the illusion of the world and wake up from this deep slumber of delusion.”

The word ‘lullaby’ in English can be broken into two parts: ‘lull’ and ‘aby’. Etymologically speaking, the word ‘lulling’ means to hush to sleep, and the second half of ‘lullaby’ – ‘aby’ – may be taken from ‘good bye’ by means of the mother saying “bye bye” to her children at night.

No matter how bad or good a singer, our voices have unique thumbprints – we’re the one that relaxes and calms our own child

The Italian word for lullaby, ‘ninne-nanne’ is similar to the Turkish ‘ninni’ and Spanish lulling-word ‘nana,’ all three words deriving from the Latin word ‘naniae,’ meaning lullaby or lament. A small clay tablet in the British Museum shows the first ever recorded lullaby from 2000 years ago, written in cuneiform, possibly with a reed stylus.

It is quite a threatening one by today’s standards, as the child is reprimanded for waking up the house demon, and told that the demon would eat them if they didn’t stop crying. In fact, this menacing undertone seems to be a common theme of some of the earliest lullabies.

The Spanish poet Federico García Lorca observed in 1928 that his country’s “saddest melodies and most melancholy texts” are contained in lullabies. The Duérmete Niño sung in Spanish speaking regions, warns of a shapeshifting monster Coco that carries children away.

In a Scottish lullaby Highland Fairy Lullaby, the mother puts the baby down and loses it. “Ho-van, ho-van gorry o go, Gorry o go, gorry o go; Ho-van, ho-van gorry o go, I never found my baby-o.”

All about love

Despite the dark undertones, these lullabies or cradle songs are rooted in tender love, traditionally sung by primary caregivers, in most cases the mother. However, in the well-known French lullaby, Fais Dodo, also known as Do, l’Enfant Do, meaning Sleep, child, Sleep, an older sibling is singing to their little brother, Colas.

According to the Cherokee tradition, it was the men who used to sing to the babies, mostly a lullaby pronounced as ‘usdi yona’ which means ‘little bear’.

Many lullabies have folk roots and can be gendered with bravery, strength and handsomeness, recurrent themes in those sung to boys, while beauty, marriage and motherhood are more typical in those sung to girls.

Another popular Scottish lullaby is Lullaby of an Infant Chief made popular by Sir Walter Scott in the 19th century in his book Guy Mannering. Here the simple AABBAA musical form is repeated over each verse, combined with a humble rhythm and melody line.

This kind of simple structure helps the parent remember the lullaby, while the simple-triple meter or 6/8 time gives them a swinging motion, supposed to imitate the soothing rocking motion that babies feel in the womb. Any music that has a tempo of 60–80 beats per minute, a slow and stable rhythm and tones low in pitch can be effectively used as a soothing lullaby.

But what makes lullabies unique is the voice of the mother or equivalent primary caregiver. No matter how bad or good a singer, our voices have unique thumbprints – we’re the one that relaxes and calms our own child.

Musically, most lullabies are simple enough for amateurs, sung in soothing voices, often at pianissimo level, and never have a melodic range spanning more than an octave. Lullabies written by established classical composers are often given the form name ‘berceuse,’ which comes from French ‘bercer’ meaning ‘to rock’.

The most famous lullaby is that by Johannes Brahms (Wiegenlied, 1868), where ‘Wiegenlied’ takes its root from ‘wiegen,’ meaning to rock, to sway, to cradle, or to nurse.

Continuing traditions

In some cultures, these lullabies are used to pass down local heritage and traditions through songs. Oral storytelling is an ancient and intimate tradition, and lullabies are a key foundation stone for language in infants, encouraging active listening and speech development.

Lullabies are often the first introduction to music and to rhyming words. Auditory processing or hearing sense is the most important sense that babies have for the first two years of their lives, and so these lullabies help them make sense of the world around them.

Lullabies are a mirror into the culture of a society, while revealing a beautiful, tender side of humanity, one that is desperately needed in current turbulent times.

A research study with premature infants found that music offered stress relief. The music slowed down the infant's heart rate, improved sucking behaviour that is critical for feeding, and resulted in increased periods of ‘quiet alertness’ helping the babies sleep.

Lullabies can foster the creation of new neural networks in babies to calm them down. It also enhances bonding between parents and their babies, while fostering a sense of wellbeing.

In a project on lullabies by the Carnegie Hall Music Trust in New York, it was shown that by singing and creating lullabies, mothers have a moment to step back, discover insights, and make connections between different parts of their lives. One study even found that singing lullabies resulted in fewer symptoms of post-partum depression.

Happy hormones

When we listen to music, our brain also produces oxytocin, which helps us sleep. Oxytocin, called the ‘cuddle hormone,’ is important for bonding and intimacy.

Listening to music has been connected to the activation of brain areas important for pleasure and reward, and also to the release of endogenous opioids which are natural painkillers. This results in decreased stress and lowering the experience of any physical and emotional pain, thereby calming down both the baby and the parent.

The simple-triple meter or 6/8 time gives lullabies a swinging motion, supposed to imitate the soothing rocking motion that babies feel in the womb

So, lullabies are not just ‘fuzzy baby songs’. While for the child the lullaby is a gentle melody reflecting a mother’s love, lullabies are also a way for mothers to release their unspoken emotions and verbalise their anxieties.

Many lullabies embody the fear of losing the child, especially in those early days. One such, Rock-a-bye baby, which we are all familiar with, is about crib death. Other scholars have interpreted the ‘when the bough breaks’ lyric as closing of the bedroom door in a culture that values independence but also voices the grief of separation by the new mother.

Since children do not understand the meaning behind the lyrics, some cultures also use the lullabies as vehicles of lament, with elements of weeping and grief.

In Iraqi culture, lullabies have been used by women to express their despair of facing war and strife. These lullabies are important in preserving a female view of war, which otherwise may not be heard.

Judaeo-Iraqi folklore is rich with such lullabies from 200 years ago, transmitted orally from generation to generation. Some of these old laments are a mirror into women’s lives when they had very little human rights, a way to express loneliness and pain.

One of them says: “I am a stranger, and my neighbours are strangers; I have no friends in this world. Winter night, and my husband is absent.”

A lullaby not only makes the child feel rested but also makes the singer more relaxed and happy. Amongst the stresses of everyday life, it provides a moment of respite, where all that matters is the tiny tot in our arms and the love between us; that moment where everything else can be forgotten. The messy house, the political turmoil, or any family troubles can all melt away.