Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Lullaby and Goodnight

Episode Date: August 15, 2021

There are few things that are truly universal across all cultures and throughout history. These things are often so obvious that we overlook them and forget how they are things that make us human. One such thing which seems so simple yet actually has profound origins: singing children to sleep. Learn more about the lullaby and how it is one of the things which all humanity has in common, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are very few things that are truly universal across all cultures and throughout history. These things are often so obvious that we overlook them and forget how they're the things that make us human. One such thing, which seems so simple, yet actually has profound origins, is singing children to sleep. Learn more about the lullaby and how it's one of the things that all humanity has in common on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now.

Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by Expedia's OutTravel the System podcast. I know you love to hear the story behind the story. So let me tell you why I think you might want to listen to the Expedia podcast. podcast, Out Travel the System. This season alone, the show talks to someone on a mission to visit every country in the world. In case you're wondering, the tally stands at 194 out of 197 countries. There's the man who's visited and stayed at literally thousands of hotels, who share some of his favorite unique accommodations and experiences. Or how about the woman who has reached

some deep philosophical conclusions about travel and privilege in no small part because of the pandemic? Get all of this and more when you tune into the show, including larger insights about the future of travel, as well as tips and tricks to maximize your savings for your next trip, whenever you feel ready to head out into the world again. You can find Out Travel the System on your podcast platform of choice. I keep a running list of ideas for podcast episodes, and I currently have 451 of them on that list. This episode was not one of them. My friend Jody posted a link about the subject of lullabies and why no one ever writes about them. I figured I have a podcast that is literally about everything, so I said, Challenge Accepted.

This is a subject that I knew very little about, and to be honest, a subject that I might never have done an episode on if it was me just coming up with ideas. So I dove in not knowing what to expect, and it turns out that the subject is actually fascinating. Let's start with the basics. many primates will cradle their children in the same way that humans do. You might have seen a photo of an orangutan or a chimpanzee holding their children in a way that makes them look human. However, there's something that humans can do that other primates can't do. We can sing. When anthropologists study ancient humans, they're often stuck analyzing what they can find.

This usually ends up being hard things like spearheads or cutting tools. However, many anthropologists think that the first tool that humans invented may have been a baby sling. Human babies are really high maintenance. Unlike a bison, for example, it takes years for a human child to get to a point where they can walk a long distance. How did nomadic people travel if they had small children? They had to carry them. This innovation might have been more important than many other inventions,

because without it, humans can't move to follow game animals. Carrying children in a sling would have resulted in the need to soothe crying children without using your hands. This would have been the origin of using a voice, to try to soothe children. One of the things that researchers have noticed is that mothers singing to babies is a universal characteristic of all people. The songs might be different in different cultures,

but if you heard a lullaby in a different language, you'd probably recognize it as such almost immediately. The slow melodic tones might be similar to the ears of a newborn as the sound of a mother's heartbeat in the womb. Lullabies are usually very simple in their melody and are designed to be sung without an instrument. They usually have a 6-8 time signature, and usually no more than five notes.

The word lullaby has two different stories for its origin. The first comes from Middle English. Lullaby is a combination of lullin, which means tulul, and bai, which just means near. The first documented use of the word was in 1560. The other theory is that it comes from Hebrew. It supposedly comes from Lilith Abbey, which means Lilith begone. Lilith was the name of a demon in Jewish tradition, and the symbols with Lilith Abbey would be placed around a crib. The Middle English explanation is probably more likely just because the word lullaby is an English word.

I mean, the word lull is right in there. What is sung about in lullabies also tends to have commonality across cultures. They tend to have very dark themes. The oldest recorded lullaby comes from a 5,000-year-old Babylonian clay tablet written in cuneiform. Here is a rough translation of the earliest known lullaby. Little baby in the dark house, you have seen the sun rise. Why are you crying? Why are you screaming? You have disturbed the house god. Who has disturbed me? The house god says. It is the baby who has disturbed you. Who scared me, says the house god.

The baby has disturbed you. The baby has scared you. Making noises like a drunkard who cannot sit still on his stool. He has disturbed your sleep. The luau people of Kenya have a lullaby that says, Rock, Rock, Rock, the baby who cries will be eaten by a hyena. These threats and macabre subject matters might have had a purpose. While an infant wouldn't have been able to understand, there would be a reason for the parent not to want a baby to cry if the cries would give away a location, and there were dangerous animals on the loose or an enemy. Having a safety warning as some of the first things you tell a child really isn't necessarily a bad idea. Even if the subject of a lullaby isn't an explicit warning, there are still often themes of sadness and lullabies, and this probably comes from the high infant mortality rate which used to exist and a mother's fear of losing a child. child at such a young age. A lullaby is also one of the first exposures a child might have to words and human speech. The benefits of lullabies aren't just cultural or educational. Researchers have found

that lullabies have actual clinical benefits to children. Newborns seem to have an innate sensitivity to music. It isn't just any music, however. It's primarily the sounds that are those in lullabies, and in particular, lullaby sung by someone in person. One study done by the New York Presbyterian hospital on babies in neonatal intensive care units found that lullaby music studies their heart rate and breathing and approves the feeding of premature babies. Another study done by the University of Florida found that premature babies who received lullaby therapy left the hospital sooner than other babies. And yet another study found that babies who heard lullabies felt less pain when receiving intravenous injections. One other interesting but not surprising finding is that infants have a preference

for their own mother's voice. Singing to a child can increase bonding between a mother's and a child. Likewise, another study did recordings of mothers singing songs with their children present, and then the same song without their children present. A group of random listeners could easily identify which songs were sung to actual children. There are a few lullabies that are so well known that they require a bit of backstory of their own. Probably the most famous lullaby in the world is the one written by Johannes Brahms. Commonly known as Brahms' Lullaby, the actual name of the piece, which is hardly other used, is vegan lead. Here's a little bit of the world. Here's a short clip, if you still don't know what I'm talking about. It was written by Brahms in 1868, and it's one of his best-known works. There are actually lyrics originally written in German to go with the song. The English translation of the lyrics are, Good Evening, Good Night, with Roses Covered, With Clothes Adorned. Slip under the covers, tomorrow morning, if God wills, you will wake once again. The other famous lullaby is, of course, Rockabye Baby. The song first appeared in a 1765 book called Mother Goose's Melody.

Here, too, is a few bars of the song in case you don't know what I'm talking about. As I mentioned before, lullabies often have very dark themes, and this is no exception. It's about a baby falling out of a tree. There are all sorts of theories as to what the real meaning of the song is, and it's incredible just how varied the explanations are for the real meaning of Rokabai Baby. One theory is that the baby represents the Egyptian god Horus. Another holds that it's an allegory about the English King James II, Yet another theory holds that it's an English corruption of the French phrase,

Hush, there's a wolf. And finally, there's a theory that it was written by a woman on the Mayflower who wrote it to describe how Native American women rocked their babies in birch cradles. There is no consensus as to what the song really means. If you're like me, you probably never gave much thought to the idea that singing to a baby could have roots so deep in human history. Newborn children may be biologically attuned to respond to a mother's singing voice. We have probably been singing lullabies for hundreds of thousands of years.

And there's something that's found in every culture on earth. Lullabies are truly a universal human experience. The associate producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Thor Thompson. If you'd like to support the show, please donate over at patreon.com. There is content only available to supporters, merchandise, and even opportunities for a show producer credit. If you know someone you think would enjoy the show, please share it with them. Also remember, if you leave a five-star review, I'll read your review on the show.