November 12, 2006
Songs for the SleeplessMusic
It probably won’t surprise many people if I mention that these days we aren’t getting much sleep in my house. Our newborn, Puran, tends to wake up hungry every 2-3 hours at night. The feeding part is usually relatively straightforward; it’s getting the little guy to burp and then sleep again that takes some time and persistence. The best tactic involves picking him up and pacing for fifteen minutes.
One of my colleagues in the English Department suggested reciting poetry while walking; the sound of iambic pentameter is said to be soporific. But sadly, I’m not that kind of English lit. person — with my new-skool education, I never actually managed to memorize anything. Instead — and it’s not a bad substitute, really — we tend to sing to him, basically whatever pop songs come into mind (the Beatles are especially good: “I’m so tired/ I haven’t slept a wink…”; “Cry, baby cry/ Make your mother sigh…”).
One trick to make the late night hours roll along more quickly is a little game we came up with: take a classic Hindi/Urdu romantic song about sleeplessness, and tweak it slightly to fit the current context. For instance:
And the travestied version might be:O ho ho ho, khoya khoya chaand, khula aasmaanHidden, hidden moon; open skies
Aankhon mein saari raat jaayegi
Tumko bhi kaise neend aayegi (full lyrics)
In your eyes, I’ll be awake all night
And how can you sleep either?
“Dikaar” means “burp.” You can see the old song at Youtube ; it’s Dev Anand in a film called Kala Bazaar.O ho ho ho, khoya khoya chaand, khula aasmaan
Dikaar mein saari raat jaayegi
Humko bhi kaise neend aayegi
Another one:
Again, enjoy the Youtube video of the song, from Judaai. And again, our early morning travesty:Raat ko neend aati nahinIn the night, sleep doesn’t come
Hey aahaha ha hayhayhay hay hmmhmmhmm hmm
Tabiyat chein paati nahin
Hmm aahaha ha hayhayhay hay hmmhmmhmm hmm
Mera dil ka chein tune le liya (full lyrics)
Hey aahaha, etc.
Peace and calm doesn’t come
Hey aahaha, etc.
You took my peace of mind
Raat ko neend aati nahin
Hey aahaha ha hayhayhay hay hmmhmmhmm hmm
Tabiyat chein paati nahin
Hey aahaha ha hayhayhay hay hmmhmmhmm hmm
Mera peit ka chaan tune le liya
More “Neend” songs at Youtube: Mere neend jaani lagi hai, Neend na mujko Aaye
It seems to me the trope of sleeplessness in Hindi film songs comes from Urdu and Persian poetry, where lovers take great pride in their romantic insomnia (see Amir Khusrau; also see here, and scroll down to the anonymously-authored “What can I say”?/”Dunya kare sawaal”). It’s definitely a little irreverent to play with the tradition in this way, but really, why not? As they say (and again, I’m travestying it), whatever gets you through the night…
Do people have favorite “sleeplessness” songs or poems (in any language)? And can you think of fun travesties of the same songs?
amardeep on November 12, 2006 06:34 PM in Music · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
Talking of sleeplessness, and early morning/ dawn songs.
Try these two for Puran - Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua - Ramaiya Vastavaiya- absolut classics. Not exactly urdu poems.
When he around a year old then this one.
Don't be gentle with the burping. That was my mistake.
As far as music was concerned, I was listening to a lot of old C'nW at the time and a CD of Willie Nelson's was in heavy rotation and I found myself lapsing into "On the road again" and covers of "Blue skies" and "City of New Orleans" (for which I made up a lot of the words).
Fun times...it still all good 2.75 years into the journey.
kayta hai dil, rah hai mushkil........
Also, like a Marine's hair cut, the diapers have to be "high and tight" once his bellybutton can take it.
JayV, thanks for the tips! Every suggestion helps.
Kush thanks for the Shree 420 songs. Pyar hua iqrar hua has one of the great rain/umbrella/night-time settings of all time -- it's iconic!
As for the song from Bobby, well, let's just say that it's always reassuring to see that 'item number' outfits in Bollywood have been silly for many, many years.
Cute post, Amardeep.
When i was little, my Mom used to sing many Hindi and Punjabi lullabies. the most popular one of all times is "Lalla lalla lori, doodh ki katori". Dad tells me that he used to sing "Neele gagan ke tale, Dharti ka pyar pale" and i would go to sleep. the lyrics of this song have nothing to do with sleep, but it worked like magic.
The lyrics of one of my favorite lori go like this:
aa jaa ri nindia tu aa kyon na jaati
munne ko mere sula kyon na jaati
aati hun bibi, aati hun main
munne ko tere sulati hun main.....
another favorite song of mine is: aa ja ri nindiya
few more "songs for the sleepless" are:
"Aahista aahista, aahista aahista
Nindiya tu aa, in do nainon mein
Halke se holle se, kuch sapne bhole se
Nindiya tu laa, in do nainon mein ho " From Swades.
" chandan ka palna resham ki dori
jhula jhulaaon nindiya ko tori
chandan ka palna
so ja tu aise mori sajaniya
so ja tu aise mori sajaniya
sajiya pe soye jaise dulhaniya
chanda ka teeka maathe lagaaon
taaron ki mala tujhko pihnaaon
taaron ki mala tujhko pihnaaon
tohe sulaaon ga ga ke lori
jhula jhulaaon nindiya ko tori
chandan ka palna..." From Shabab (very old movie-Music by Hemant Kumar).
"meri aankhon ki nindiya chura le gaya" :) from Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan.
amardeep: don't have any sleeplessness songs..with the exception of 'rock a bye baby on the treetop'...but it was a pleasure to have puran's first big outing to auntie chick pea and brother tabouli's place last weekend :)... he slept like a log then..;)
5days 19hours 54mins 11secs until kickoff for the biggest sporting game of the 20th/21st century............
Amardeep, I remember hearing that song on my parents' desi tapes growing up. I love it, if only for the nostalgia factor! I'm totally going to sing your version now...and I'm going to scour my iPod to see if I can find a few more.
AMFD: GO BLUE! Don't underestimate number 2.
Try the Miracle Blanket. It's basically a straight jacket for babies, but it works like a charm in terms of swaddling them and getting them to sleep. Babies have an inherent ability to be calm as long as you are pacing around and getting no sleep (much like floor nurses when one is on call), but as soon as you lie down......the crying begins.
Oh, I just thought of the perfect one, except I don't really know it...I think it's a folk song type thing. We sing it at weddings dholkis, etc. It's a Punjabi song that's humorous and can be tailored to different situations. Of course, I can only remember parts of it, but it's something like: "Raat de bara baje, aape meri ninder khulle....something something something...mein hauley hauely khendi an, hauley hauley khendi an, kon hai?" And then you answer with a name of someone you're poking fun of, ie, "Ismat hai." And then it's sort of antakshari-like, where you sing a song that epitomizes that person. It's supposed to be funny, but of course I've slaughtered it here. Can anyone help?
Amardeep,
I was trying to find Masoom's lakdi ki kathi, but by accident found this resource. They aren't lorees though but y'all might fancy it.
Ismat: There will be one team left standing this Saturday and it wont be the blue one. I will eat the keyboard if that happens!
charming post... and any fan of the vhyte album is a friend of mine. how should it go - 'i'm soooo tired. my mind is on the blink. i wonder should i get up, and fix puran a drink... ' :-)
and there's a hindi song whose lyrics seem very apt but i cant get the tune. it goes like - 'neend nahin aati hai. badi lambi raat hai' (i cant sleep, and the nite is so long).
then, old frroooti, you can always quote the bard to the young 'un - 'Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast!
Yet another reason to cheer for Michigan. Can you please post a photo of said eating once it happens?
I have to second Asha's Dad. Tight swaddling is definitely A+ for calming the babies. The miracle blankie was easier to use. Thank god mine didn't need walking around. We chintzed out of buying a rocker and got away with one those Ikea "5" chairs.
my dad sung a lot of ilayaraja to me and my siblings to get us to sleep... any other southies with me?
re: the game. buckeyes? bring it. and remember to HAIL TO THE VICTORS...
The Ikea chair is called the Poang. My son uses it now as a spring board to bounce (often onto other furniture). So see, furniture and toy!
GO BUCKS!
No one will be eating any keyboards. Trust me. :)
I have a favorite sleeplessness story and it can only be told by my mother. It's always the same story about a king who had two queens and one he loved and the other he didn't. There is something about having heard that story since I was a baby that I still find extremely comforting. When my mother visits I make her tell it to me at least once a week and like magic I fall asleep. I know he's teeny but find a ritual or one or two songs or stories that you tell repeatedly. He will find a lot of comfort in it. My mother tells me it helps babies form memories. How else can anyone explain the instant gratification and sleepiness I feel when I hear that story.
Sorry hadn't read this before. I own one and love it myself. My friends actually bought a rocker super cheap and reupholstered it and use it religiously with the baby and it really helps. It helps relax you and maintain the movement for the baby as well.
I know this is surreal but my mom used to recite Subhadra Kumari Chauhan's Jhansi ki Rani to put me to sleep.
And yes, it worked.
There's a great lullaby in Mission Kashmir:
So ja chanda, raja so ja
chal sapno mein chal
Neend ki pariyaan
Pahen ke aaye
Something something.
Hope that helps. :)
Sakshi, you are not alone :-) It was Jhansi Ki Rani for me too and I still love listening to/reciting it.
With my two little ones, it is Hanuman Chalisa. Day in and Day out. I must have said it a million times already. Okay not a million but pretty close :-)
Perhaps that old Mukesh song Suhana Safar Aur Ye Mausam might work.
two more songs... they're old but classic... and have a soothing sound to help calm kids/babies...
"dheere se aaja ri ankhiyan mein
nindiya aaja ri aajaa, dheere se aaja
chhote se nainan ki bagiyan mein
nindiya aaja ri aajaa, dheere se aaja"
hawa dheere aana
neend bhare pankh liye jhoola jhoola jana
nanhi kali sone chali, hawa dheere aana"
- this one is for little girls... but may come handy in the future :)
and for whatever reason, old king cole by mother goose worked like a charm on my little cousin...
very cute, sumiti. :-) i hope you're taking notes 'deep.
btw - for the guy who suggested the mission kashmir ... my local dvd store seems to have been swayed by my earthtone and has acquired a stack of hindi movies + the apu trilogy ... he's been leering suggestively at me for the past few weekends - and i think i'm going to succumb next week. please warn me now if mission kashmir is truly heinous.
Pavarotti's favourite aria, "Nessun Dorma" is about sleeplessness, although I can't remember the specific context in the opera. It's also one of mine.
One of my favorite 'remixes' - 'Chandni Raatein' by Partners in Rhyme.
And for Puran, there's a little known lullaby from Salim and Suleiman Merchant's Bhoomi - 'So ja re' by Shubha Mudgal. I tried to find it online with no luck, but it's definitely worth at least a 30 sec listen to on Itunes!
For Master P to grow a funny bone, Hazara Singh Ramta =)
Actually, I'm the girl who suggested the Mission Kashmir song. :)
Also, I'm pretty bad with reviews - I always like some aspect of a movie, no matter how bad it is (unless it's REALLY bad). I didn't think the movie was bad, but again, don't kill me if you think it is. You've been warned. :)
sorry preetalina - my error - thanks for the tip tho'.
g'nite.
Before my daughter was born, I collected some loris I'd heard. Some of the songs have been listed by ppl above - ones I like to sing to my daughter are Lalla Lalla Lori, Dheere Se Aaja Ri Ankhiyan Mein - the only one I could remember the lyrics to for the longest time, Aaja Nindiya Aaja, Nanhi Kali Sone Chali, So Ja Re So Ja Mere Rajdulare So Ja and a couple more. I should say lullabies were pretty much useless and just humming and rocking worked during the first six months. They work well now that she's a toddler!
My grandmother was fond of singing me a Gujarati nursery rhyme/song- Chanda Mama. Something about the moon dipped in ghee- I unfortunately do not remember much of the lyrics, but I do remember the soothing sound of her voice. And I'm sure Puran will feel the same about whatever you choose to sing him to sleep. :)
Chanda mama door ke is actually a movie song( Vachan (1955)). It was Asha Bhosle's first big hit, and probably India's national lullaby :) (though maybe not South India). I do not know if the iconic children's mag Chandamama owes its name to the song, but its a distinct possibility. Unfortunately, I don't remember how it goes. :(
here it goes...
Naani Teri Morni Ko Mor Le Gaye
Baaki Jo Bacha Tha Kaale Chor Le Gaye
Khaake Peeke Mote Hoke, Chor Baithe Rail Mein
Choron Vaala Dibba Kat Kar, Pahuncha Seedhe Jail Mein
Naani Teri Morni Ko...
Un Choron Ki Khoob Khabar Li, Mote Thaanedaar Ne
Moron Ko Bhi Khoob Nachaaya, Jungal Ki Sarkaar Ne
Naani Teri Morni Ko...
Achhi Naani Pyaari Naani, Roosa-Roosi Chhod De
Jaldi Se Ek Paisa De De, Tu Kanjoosi Chhod De
Naani Teri Morni Ko...
:-D
Thanks, Kush. That was awesome.
Aw, I totally remember Chanda Mama! My mom used to sing that to me...sniff. Thanks for reminding.
I found a song up on YouTube. The video is a remake with an actor named Sanjay Malhotra but the song is an old song apparently from a Dev Anand film. I don't know the song name. Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExZEXfQpRQQ
If anyone can tell me the name of the song, that would be great. I would love that song on my ipod.
M. Ram,
Kiska Rasta Dekhe. The original song is also on You Tube here.
The best lori in terms of pure quality of lyrics and singing might well be Rafi's "Aaj kal mein dhal gaya, din hua tamam/ Tu bhi so jaa, so gayi neend bhari shaam".
The earliest lori I can think of is (I think) either Pankaj Mallik's or Saigal's "Dheere dheere aa re baalam dheere/ Mera bulbul so raha hai, shor tu na macha. Dheere dheere..."
I sing Rafi or Mukesh to my 4 months old daughter to try and get her to sleep. A particular favourite of hers seems to be (no idea why) Mukesh's "Chal akela, chal akela, chal akela/ Tera mela peeche chhuta raahi chal akela."
She also seems to like Shanu's "Ek din aap yun, humko mil jayenge..." from Yes Boss... :)
The recent film Swades also had a very nice lullaby, although the song was cut out of the final cinematic version of the movie. I believe it's still available on the soundtrack album though, and the song/video had become very famous prior to the film's cinematic release (you may have seen it on B4U, Zee Music etc). It shows Shahrukh singing to a small boy falling asleep at night-time while the heroine (and her mother, I think) looks on.
Well, I really liked it anyway ;)
I think the soundtrack for the movie 'Lamhe' had a lullaby, I can't remember the details right now...
my mum used to sing "soja rajkumari"....good ol' classic by lata. worked great. even humming it is relaxing.
Why not some of the hip hop you know? It's rhythmic, and while the content may not be soothing, who actually listens to the lyrics? ;)
very nice melodies q-man, m.ram very soothing. thanks.
but malhotra and anand were really hamming it dont you think :-)
I loved the white sailor jacket and the red sweater btw
Just looking for poetry to recite/songs to sing? What about putting on soothing music? We used to have audio cassettes of evening raagas that I remember lulling us to sleep.
That's probably because you're too busy ogling the models in the videos, Ennis ;)
Here are 2 excellent hip-hop tracks which should be suitably chilled out: Fun Lovin' Criminals and Pharrell.
m.ram - you've destroyed my morning P-). i've seen that video like three times - and it cracks me up every tme. he so reminds me of ricky gervais' music video from the office. (Jai Singh - youze know what i'ma talkin' aboot).
Here's an awesome one, with the right melody and softness to be a lullaby. Shammi Kapoor's Brahmchari 1968, Shailendra's lyrics:
Mein gaau tum so jaao,
mein gaau tum so jaao,
Sukh sapno me kho jaao,
mein gaau tum so jaao...
Amardeep -- here's a strategy: why not play a few minutes from "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"? The audio equivalent of Bollywood Fugly -- after subjecting him to that, you can probably get away with playing or saying anything you want, as long as it ends the noise.
I'm all about managing and manipulating expectations, even with infants.
Amardeep,
This is not a song-based strategy, but my nephew falls asleep if you hold him while sitting and bouncing on one of those giant exercise balls. I'm not sure why it works, but I hope it helps. Good luck with little Puran!
How about the song from Roja:
Roja Jaaneman
substitute Roja with Soja.
Good lucks with the baby!
This is totally off subject, but does anyone know of a mrdungum/tabla player in nyc willing to get together to play some music with me? I am a guitar player myself.. sorry to go off subject, but I figured this would be a good placce to find one, what with all the conscious fellow desis on this blog :)
if so let me know.
You could further on the Beatles route and sing 'I'm just watching the wheels go round and round' and 'Beautiful, Beautiful Boy'!
Another song, remade with the same actor Sanjay Malhotra. I think it's called Main Zindagi Ka Saath. It's from the movie Hum Dono:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2264361279627309554&q=bollywood
m.ram - ... :-(B 8)
you're killing me man... here - i owed you this in turn. :-) enjoy.
Hairy_D,
Dammit, you're right ;)
****************************************
Nobody here has mentioned "Neela Aasman So Gaya" from Silsila, sung by Amitabh Bachchan himself.
Check out the subtitles too :)
Ok, here's another idea. Still not a sleepless song, but could be endless fun nonetheless. You could take Bob Dylan's "Hard Rain" (which starts as "oh where have you been my blue-eyed son" ) and change it to something like this:
Oh why won't you sleep, my brown-eyed son?
Oh why won't you sleep, my darling young one?
I've stumbled out of bed at this early hour,
With this little rest, I fall asleep in the shower,
I've stepped on the heads of seven stuffed animals,
I've clicked the remote through a dozen infomercials,
I've walked ten-thousands miles back and forth through the hallway,
And its a hard, and its a hard, its a hard, and its a hard,
And its a hard time getting you to sleep.
Not so sure about my ending, I'm sure you could come up with something better, but it's a fun game. ;)
i'm totally putting my baby to sleep with "wave of mutilation", by the pixies (who else would you expect from me?). i fall asleep to 10,000 maniacs and cocteau twins every night, why should my progeny function any differently?
aaaaaand....i just realized that one of these comments is not like the other ones...i am a disgrace to all desis, i know. i recognize none of the above-offered (filmi?) tunes. :)
If you dont know me by now... (random air humping at 1:40) ... you will never never know me (pan to image of buddha statue)
i am having a rather fun monday :-)
i CERTAINLY do not recognize that! poor mick hucknall...poor harold melvin... *shudder*
Anna,
don't think you're alone, i whenever i hear these lyrics, its like 'something something, something, a word i know!, something something, something'
i just keep at it bc i know there's good stuff there from listening to the parents filmi tapes in the car as a kid (like all the other desis i know...it was always the tapes) otherwise, its not worth the trouble.
i also feel like a sell-out to desidom but i just keep at it. lullaby songs in hindi though? that will be beyond my abilities even with the proper lead up! oh the pain of being a south asian diasporadic
Amardeep,
Not lullabies by any means, but these are soothing songs that puts my li'l 16 month old to sleep.
1. Neend na mujhko aaye
2. Bahomein chale aao
3. Aayiye mehrbaan
4. Dekho rooTha na karo.
5. Din dhal jaaye
6. Na tum hamein jaano [Waheeda is so gorgeous]
etc.
;) For some reason, more than the songs, I remember the radio commercials.
For all the bay area brownz, does anyone else remember those commercials for bharat bazaar on the radio on saturdays? I can still sing the end part to perfection (bharat bazaar, india imports! sho-PING, sho-PING, sho-PING!)
p.s. A N N A--i'm totally a 10,000 maniacs fan. Do you remember "shakespear's sister" :)
The good Rev. Al Green never failed me. Plus every boy needs early lessons in shmoove.
"I'm oonly sleeping" from Revolver.
Intersting Trivia. Asha Bhosle's kids hated it when she tried to sing them to sleep. "Aai, please don't sing", the ingrates would say.
So gaya yeh jahan
so gaya aasmaan
so gayi hai saari manzilein...hai saari manzilein
so gaya hai rasta
-Tehzaab
"I'm
oonly sleeping" from Revolver.i hear you-- it's just that my parents didn't have filmi tapes in the car. i know my father owned two random "best of"s for lata and moh'd rafi, but he was ten times more likely to choose beethoven...or npr. hence my own dependence on "all things considered", since THAT is what i would fall asleep to (in the car).
I remember those nights singing Malaika a Swahili song and "nanhi kali sone chali" with our "nana para" for hours on end!!! We desperately administered mylicon and assembled a cradle swing to place him in after we swaddled him tightly first, of course! :-).
Here are the words I love:
hava dheere aana
nind bhare pankh liye jhoola jhoola jaana
nanhi kali sone chali (or in your case, nana para sona chala) hava dhire aana
nind bhare pankh liye jhoola jhoola jaana
nanhi kali sone chali
[below is the rest, but I never got that far - I just kept repeating the first stanza - how much can you really ask for with all that sleep deprivation!?!]
chaand kiran si gudiya naajon ki hai pali - 2
aaj agar chaandaniya aana meri gali
gun gun gun git koi haule haule gaana
nind bhare pankh liye jhoola jhoola jaana
resham ki dor agar pairon ko ulajhaaye - 2
ghungharu ka daana koi shor macha jae
daane mere jaage to phir nindiya tu bahalaana
nind bhare pankh liye jhoola jhoola jaana
nanhi kali sone chali hava dhire aana
The Kenyan side of me likes the Sawhili song Malaika:
Malaika, nakupenda Malaika.
Malaika, nakupenda Malaika.
Nami nifanyeje, kijana mwenzio,
Nashindwa na mali sina, we,
Ningekuoa Malaika.
Nashindwa na mali sina, we,
Ningekuoa Malaika.
Pesa zasumbua roho yangu
Pesa zasumbua roho yangu
Nami nifanyeje, kijana mwenzio,
Nashindwa na mali sina, we,
Ningekuoa Malaika.
Nashindwa na mali sina, we,
Ningekuoa Malaika.
Kidege, hukuwaza kidege.
Kidege, hukuwaza kidege.
Nami nifanyeje, kijana mwenzio,
Nashindwa na mali sina, we,
Ningekuoa kidege (or Malaika).
Nashindwa na mali sina, we,
Ningekuoa kidege (or Malaika).
you're actually very lucky! what i wouldn't have done for parents who listened to NPR. seriously, it would have opened up worlds i never imagined existed. although lata and rafi were good too in their way
SDM-- siobhan fahey is STILL gorgeous...i saw her on VH1 classic last week. i do remember them, i do. :)
Malaika is such a beautiful song ...
India Fabric IMports .. India Fabric IMports! Kya hai vaha ... yaha milengi saaria ji saaria ...
I wish I remembered all the words - every weekend we used to hear this commercial dozens of times =)
Hey Amardeep:
Mubarak to you. I hear you about sleepless nights, burping and the search for the right song. On November 2, my wife and I had a boy.
I have been inundating my son with lots of different genres but have been trying to keep it mellow..(ie: no NY Dolls, Tool, Clash, DnB, Breaks, Goan Trance..etc..yet)
Indian Classical seems to be his favorite, particularly:
Rahul Sharma "Music of the Himalayas" (Rahul Sharma on Santoor with Bhavani Shankar and others - great live recording - has a very Thumri vibe..no long alaaps)
Rakesh Chaurasia and Talvin Singh "Vira" (Chaurasia on Bansuri and Singh on Tabla)
almost anything by Pandit VM Bhatt, or Ali Akbar Khan sahib.
some of the tracks from Anoushka Shankar's new album are nice and mellow.
I found a few odd gems along the way - Sevara Nazarkhan (Uzbek Vocalist) has a beautiful track called "Alla (Bahtimga Lullaby)" off her album "Yol Bolsin" (Real World/EMI). There is a Marcel Khalife composition called "Nami" (Go to Sleep) sung by an Egyptian singer, Aida Ayoubi which is nice.
Also been playing some mellow tracks by Azam Ali ("Abode" from her new album Elysium of the Brave on Six Degrees Records), Susheela Raman ("Sakhimaro", "Nagumomo", off of the "Love Trap" and "Salt Rain" albums respectively) Madeline Peyroux ("La Javanaise" (an old Gainsbourg track) is really nice. off her new album)
Malaika..wow..great choice. Brings back some great memories of my childhood.
I have also found myself playing some rather interesting ambient/IDM tracks (Ishq, Manuel, Telefon Tel Aviv) Some of the Sigur Ros tracks seem enjoyable to him too.
one of my clients dropped off his Electric Tanpura (Raagini). Lulls him and the rest of us to sleep.
Email me if you want me to send you any music. (ali at invasiongroup dot com). I would be happy to share.
congratulations once again..
I don't have kids myself yet, but I always thought Tagore's kobita "Phoole Phoole, Dhoole Dhoole" was beautiful, especially in its musical version (can't remember who sings it offhand, sorry.) I believe they used an updated version of the song in the movie Parineeta, song titled "Soona Man Ka Angan".
Abu Maysam, congrats to you, and good luck.
Ek Aurat, thanks for introducing me to Malaika. A lovely song! I didn't expect to see Swahili; cool.
And everyone, thanks for your suggestions. Many of these songs (esp. the lullabies) don't appear to be available online, so I think I'm going to query in-laws and relatives who might know how to sing them. This is going to be one of those comment threads I'll come back to again and again...
Here's a non-hindi song. Go to http://www.lindseybuckingham.com/. There is a music player at the top of the page. Press the skip ahead button until you come to a song called called Cast Away Dreams. Just listen to the song. It's just sublime. That could be soothing for little Puran.
Not a classic Hindu/Urdu romantic song, but what the hey.
The Original:
Your Cheating Heart - Hank Williams [Link to a YouTube video with Hank Williams Jr singing it.]
Your cheatin' heart will make you weep
You'll cry and cry and try to sleep
But slee-eep won't come the whole night through
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you
When tears come down like fallin' rain
You'll toss around and call my name
You'll wa-alk the floor the way I do
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you
Your chea-eatin' heart will pine some day
And crave the love you threw away
The ti-ime will come when you'll be blue
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you
When tears come down like fallin' rain
You'll toss around and call my name
You'll wa-alk the floor the way I do
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you
The travesty:
That *Beep*ing Burp - Zz
That *beep*ing burp won't let you sleep.
You yell and scream and bawl and weep,
No slee-eep for me the whole night through,
Till that *beep*in' burp gets out of you.
I fake a snore, but she prods my tum,
"I fed the lad, now get off your bum,
You wa-alk the floor, he's your son too.
That *beep*in' burp? It's your turn, you."
Puran, my son, your daddy's blue,
He loves you aa-nd your "ga ga goo."
But puttar, please, daddy needs to sleep,
That *beep*in' burp will make me weep.
One day you'll have a baby too-oo.
He'll do the same (I hope) to you
You'll wa-alk the floor the way I do
That *beep*in' burp will get you too.
Here is a youtube link to a great Telugu movie lullaby from "Gitanjali". I think this is one of the few Maniratnam hits without a Hindi version. Sorry I can't offer a translation, my Telugu skills don't extend that far. "Lali" means lullaby. I've always loved this song.
"O papa lali"
The bizarre hospital scenes are explained by the fact that both the main characters are dying of terminal illnesses.
My mom used to sing me these "lullabies" when I was little and it wasn't until years later that I realized they were love songs from Malayalam movies and didn't have anything to do with falling asleep.
Don't remember as far back as babyhood, but in early childhood, my father's heartbeat was my favorite sound. Nothing quite as relaxing!
Hi -- does anyone have the lyrics/translation for Azam Ali's "Abode" ?? It is sooo beautiful...
jaane kyaa baat hai, jaane kyaa baat hain
neend naheen aatee, badee lanbee raat hain
dhak dhak abhee se jiyaa dol rahaa hain
ghooghant abhee se meraa khol rahaa hain
door abhee to piyaa kee mulaakaat hain
jab jab dekhoo main ye chaand sitaare
ayesaa lagataa hai, muze laaj ke maare
jaise koee dolee, jaise baaraat hain
my name is amanda tran and my # is 372-4299 im not kidding call me leave a joke.or ask me out or something.
this is for those who love chandamama song
chandamama door ke
pue pakaye bhoor ke
aap khaye thali me
munne ko de pyali me
pyali gayi toot
munna gaya rooth
layaenge hum pyaliyan baja baja ke taliyan
munne ko manayenge ham dood malayi khayenge
chandamama..........
udan khatole bhaith ke munna
chanda ke ghar jayega
taron ke sang ankh micholi khel ke dil behalayega
khel kud jab mere munne ka ji bhar jayega
thumak thumak mera munna vaapas ghar ko ayega
chandamama........