When shopping for lullaby CDs for our first baby, my husband and I discovered a disturbing trend. Rather than compiling the best performances and recordings of the best music to put a child to sleep to, record companies have a folk singer come in and perform lame acoustic versions of these classic songs. The worst offender is Disney, who has full orchestral performances of their music for movie soundtracks, who has Julie Andrews singing "Stay Awake" and "Feed the Birds" for Mary Poppins and the Philadelphia Orchestra performing "Ave Maria" for Fantasia, yet creates substandard recordings of the same for their lullaby CDs. Even Beatles classics have fallen victim to this practice. Why would anyone ever record a lamer version of "Blackbird" for a lullaby CD when the original is so perfect for this use?
What are they thinking?!? Babies have more sensitive hearing not less. Their little brains are still developing sensitivity to subtleties in sound. Providing them the highest quality performances and recordings should be a priority. Someone somewhere decided simplicity must be more soothing to simple baby minds, but we've learned in recent years that baby minds are anything but simple.
My husband is a bit of an audiophile and this was not acceptable to him. Instead, he created a playlist on this brand new (at the time) software called iTunes, of the best recordings of the best songs, and burned a couple CDs for the car and the daycare center since mp3 players weren't really around much yet. It had to fit on a CD so it was just about an hour long, perfect for nap time. The daycare center loved it as it put all the kids right to sleep and never annoyed the adults. They seldom lasted through the second song. I had to be careful playing it in the car because it put me to sleep too. Additionally, our daughters developed a sensitivity to music and appreciation for it that was demonstrable before they could speak.
Since I don't own the rights to these songs, I can't compile and sell my magic lullaby CD to other parents, but since we've abandoned CDs anyway at this point, I can publish the playlist and you can purchase the individual songs to compile on your own digital media player. If you're looking for something better than what record companies call a lullaby album, here is...
Abby's Lullaby Playlist:
Featured artists are included in the above list to help you find the right recording since most of the songs have been recorded by multiple artists. If you've the money to spend, all of the albums on which these songs are included are worth adding to your music library. Songs are listed in the order I established for the original CD fourteen years ago. I particularly love the way "Ave Maria" feels waking back up to the day.
What are they thinking?!? Babies have more sensitive hearing not less. Their little brains are still developing sensitivity to subtleties in sound. Providing them the highest quality performances and recordings should be a priority. Someone somewhere decided simplicity must be more soothing to simple baby minds, but we've learned in recent years that baby minds are anything but simple.
My husband is a bit of an audiophile and this was not acceptable to him. Instead, he created a playlist on this brand new (at the time) software called iTunes, of the best recordings of the best songs, and burned a couple CDs for the car and the daycare center since mp3 players weren't really around much yet. It had to fit on a CD so it was just about an hour long, perfect for nap time. The daycare center loved it as it put all the kids right to sleep and never annoyed the adults. They seldom lasted through the second song. I had to be careful playing it in the car because it put me to sleep too. Additionally, our daughters developed a sensitivity to music and appreciation for it that was demonstrable before they could speak.
Since I don't own the rights to these songs, I can't compile and sell my magic lullaby CD to other parents, but since we've abandoned CDs anyway at this point, I can publish the playlist and you can purchase the individual songs to compile on your own digital media player. If you're looking for something better than what record companies call a lullaby album, here is...
Abby's Lullaby Playlist:
- Baby Mine... from Disney's "Dumbo" movie soundtrack featuring Betty Noyes
- Stay Awake... from Disney's "Mary Poppins" movie soundtrack featuring Julie Andrews
- Feed the Birds... from Disney's "Mary Poppins" movie soundtrack featuring Julie Andrews
- Do You Hear That?/I Wonder... from Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" movie soundtrack featuring Mary Costa
- Once Upon a Dream... from Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" movie soundtrack featuring Mary Costa & Bill Shirley
- A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes... from Disney's "Cinderella" movie soundtrack featuring Ilene Woods
- Love is a Song... from Disney's "Bambi" movie soundtrack featuring Donald Novis
- Little April Showers... from Disney's "Bambi" movie soundtrack featuring the Disney Studio Chorus
- Lavender Blue... from Disney's "So Dear To My Heart" movie soundtrack featuring Burl Ives
- You Belong to My Heart... from Disney's "Saludos Amigos" movie soundtrack featuring Dora Luz
- Winnie the Pooh... from Disney's original "Winnie the Pooh" movie soundtrack featuring the Disney Studio Chorus
- Best of Friends... from Disney's "Fox & Hound" movie soundtrack featuring Pearl Bailey
- Bella Notte... from Disney's "Lady & the Tramp" movie soundtrack featuring Bill Thompson
- Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier... from "The Civil War (Original Soundtrack)" performed by Jacqueline Schwab & Jesse Carr
- Blackbird... performed by The Beatles
- I Will... performed by The Beatles
- A Kiss to Build a Dream On... performed by Louis Armstrong
- I'll Be Seeing You... performed by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra
- When The Lights Go On Again... performed by Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra
- Summertime... from "The Great Gershwin" album featuring Mildred Bailey
- More I Cannot Wish You... from Frank Loesser's "Guys and Dolls (Original Studio Cast)" featuring Brian Greene
- Sunrise, Sunset... from "Fiddler on the Roof (Original Broadway Cast Recording)" featuring Zero Mostel
- Ave Maria, Op. 52 No. 6... from Disney's "Fantasia" movie soundtrack featuring Leopoldo Stokowski & The Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra
Featured artists are included in the above list to help you find the right recording since most of the songs have been recorded by multiple artists. If you've the money to spend, all of the albums on which these songs are included are worth adding to your music library. Songs are listed in the order I established for the original CD fourteen years ago. I particularly love the way "Ave Maria" feels waking back up to the day.
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