I remember the first times trying to get the little Prince to sleep. I had him on my arms, just slowly lulling him to sleep, rocking in my rocking chair. I waited for him to get asleep in the security and warmth of my arms. I realize now I almost never talked to him. I almost never talk at home in fact. It is strange how I am able to talk to strangers, to colleagues and other people I don’t really know about anything without importance; but when it comes to my closed ones, I seldom talk. Not that I have nothing to say, but words sometimes do not have a deep enough meaning, it can be misinterpreted… sometimes, a look and some signs are easier to understand… I prefer actions when it comes to communicating in this close circle.

 So, I realized I was not talking much to the Little Prince. Is it the reason why he doesn’t talk much himself? He is almost three now and still babbles as an eighteen months baby. I know all kids evolve on a different pace… it’s just that… well… I guess I can count lucky I don’t have to answer all the ‘why’ yet and that it is still relatively quiet in my realm for now.

 Not having much to say, I tried books. Reading would be an easy way to bring up words and subject, showing pictures to help. The Little Prince adored books, he loved them so much he devoured them. Literally. There is not a book remaining in his entirety in the house, even those carton books. Well, reading was not an easy task. Even more considering the Little Prince is one of those independent kind, needing to discover things by themselves. A wilful little man he is. It was a struggle to keep a book long enough to just show a picture and read a word. I forsook the reading.

 What options remained? I started to talk to him. It feels a bit silly talking like that, like talking to walls, or to a baby looking at you as if you were a Martian sometimes… But still… Not having much to say, not knowing how to stimulate the language acquisition, I resorted to singing. It feels less silly to sing to oneself tan talking to oneself, gives a bit more normalcy to one’s craziness.

 Taking the path of the song, I had to refresh my memory of nursery rhymes and other I could entertain the Little Prince with. Internet is an infinite source for this kind of things. I found back the songs I knew as a kid, and, for the first time, I really paid attention to the lyrics. Did we really sing that? Am I really singing those to my kids now?

 I guess I am not making too much sense here. Let me give a little background. I sing to my angels some classic French nursery rhymes. None are really fluffy stories of flying bunnies. The lyrics can get dark, singing about sadness and cruelty. Are we teaching our kids life lessons via lullabies? What about the story of a father killing the beau of his daughter, the story of a starving crew about to eat one of them, or the story of a man selling a woman's cat he kidnaped because the ransom was not enough...

 Listen to these, or rather, read through the lyrics, and tell me what to think of it.

 There is one song recounting of the selection of a young boy to be eaten. There are many stories for young ones talking about kids eaten, or about to be. I never realised how far this was taken. I don’t remember having been read the story of Hansel and Gretel when I was young. Perhaps because it is not directly part of a southern/Latin culture. But the song about these guys on a boat selecting who and how to eat one of them… I used to sing it, not really realizing what was sung…

 Straws were drawn all around, |To figure out who'd be eaten, | Ahoy! Ahoy!

 Fate selected the youngest boy, | It was thus him that was called, | Ahoy! Ahoy!

 Now t'was wondered with what sauce, | The poor boy would be eaten, | Ahoy! Ahoy!

 One wanted to fry him shallow, | Other cook him in a stew,  Ahoy! Ahoy![1]

 There is another song about a girl wanting to marry someone her father doesn’t. The man is in prison, and the father tells her daughter they will hang him if she insists to marry him. The song goes like it:

 I want my lover Pierre, | The one who’s in Prison.

 You can’t have your Pierre, | We’re going to hang him.

 If you hang Pierre, | Then hang me beside him.

 Then they hung Pierre, | And her Jeannette beside him.[2]

 Interesting fact is that this song seems to originate in the XIIth century[3]. Somehow, all the lullabies are from an ancient time, sung and re-sung, lyrics varying slightly to adapt to the period they are sung into… War, love, money are important part of them:

 In ‘’Auprès de ma blonde’’ (Next to my Girlfriend), a woman sing about her husband being prisoner in Holland. This song most likely is from the XVIIth century[4].

In ‘’Trois jeunes tambours’’[5] (Three Young Drummers), a young drummer coming back from war meet a princess and asks her hand to the king. The king only accepts when he knows the drummer is rich, said drummer then refuses the princess… This song is most likely from the XVIIth century, where the mention of the Queen of Hungary is considered to be Maria Theresa of Habsburg.

In ‘’C’est la mere Michel’’, Mrs Michel has lost her cat. Mr Lustucru had taken it, and when Mrs Michel proposes a kiss in exchange of her cat, Mr Lustucru tells her the cat was sold. Obviuously the ramson wasn’t enough. This song is from the XIXth century[6]

In ‘’A la Claire fontaine’’ (By the Clear Fountain), a man is singing the loss of his lover… over a bouquet of roses he refused her. This song is from the early XVIIth century[7]. It seems women were all the same even centuries ago…

In ‘’Au clair de la lune’’[8] (By the Light of the Moon), the conclusion contains a double entendre I am glad my kids didn’t get it yet. I am not ready to explain what mommy and daddy do in their bedroom… This song is from the XVIIIth century.

By the light of the moon | One could barely see | The pen was looked for | The light was looked for | With all that looking | I don't know what was found | But I do know that the door | Was shut behind them.

 There are more of these songs with double entendre or ‘real life’ subject, if I can say. It seems that most of the lullabies of today found their origin in the past, between the XVIth and the XIXth century for the most[9]. Is it the same with other languages, cultures?

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[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_%C3%A9tait_un_petit_navire

[2]http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ne_pleure_pas,_Jeannette

[3]http://www.honourandthesword.com/pages/background/music.htm

[4]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aupr%C3%A8s_de_ma_blonde

[5]http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=138&c=22

[6]http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/C'est_la_m%C3%A8re_Michel

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_la_claire_fontaine

/ http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%80_la_claire_fontaine

[8]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_clair_de_la_lune

[9]http://people.southwestern.edu/~prevots/songs/?p=64