Very old nursery rhyme! 18th century England, when the women working in the fields tied their baby’s basket to the tree branches to rock them to sleep! Yes, I had to look it up!
The late Shari Lewis used to have her characters alter the last verse: When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, And if I were a baby… this is not the sort of thing I would want to hear at allllll.
From Wonderopolis: The popular lullaby was first printed in 1765 in Mother Goose’s Melody. Some historians believe it was written in response to King James II’s conversion to Catholicism. He had a son in 1688 and many feared his heir would lead to a Catholic dynasty in England.
According to this political theory, the lyrics of “Rock-A-Bye Baby” were a death wish directed at the infant son of King James II, hoping he would die and be replaced by a Protestant king.
angelolady Premium Member over 2 years ago
Terrifying song. But I never thought about it being scary when I was little.
Guilty Bystander over 2 years ago
Was that song taken from a part of the tornado sequence of “The Wizard of Oz” that ended up on the cutting-room floor?
iggyman over 2 years ago
Very old nursery rhyme! 18th century England, when the women working in the fields tied their baby’s basket to the tree branches to rock them to sleep! Yes, I had to look it up!
dlkrueger33 over 2 years ago
Rock a Bye your baby with a Dixie melody!
wi3leong Premium Member over 2 years ago
A traditional song about premeditated child endangerment.
jrankin1959 over 2 years ago
The late Shari Lewis used to have her characters alter the last verse: When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, And if I were a baby… this is not the sort of thing I would want to hear at allllll.
Troglodyte over 2 years ago
Give me “Cradle of Love” by Billy Idol any day!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCZuYS-9qaw&ab_channel=BillyIdolVEVO
Spiffy over 2 years ago
Bye baby!
Jaddis over 2 years ago
From Wonderopolis: The popular lullaby was first printed in 1765 in Mother Goose’s Melody. Some historians believe it was written in response to King James II’s conversion to Catholicism. He had a son in 1688 and many feared his heir would lead to a Catholic dynasty in England.
According to this political theory, the lyrics of “Rock-A-Bye Baby” were a death wish directed at the infant son of King James II, hoping he would die and be replaced by a Protestant king.
knight1192a over 2 years ago
I always heard it as on the tree top.
BigBoy over 2 years ago
Mother Goose collected some very strange eggs of nursery rhymes