Lulling Non-lullabies

I'm not a great singer. Actually, I'm pretty terrible. That doesn't stop me from singing all the time though. Marguerite has been spoiled (I mean "indulged", but if you hear me sing, you'll probably think "ruined") with my bedtime medleys. There's "Brahms' Lullaby", of course. I sing it in English, but I've been trying to learn the German version as well (just because). However, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how the syllabication works (probably because I don't speak German, except for the few words I picked up as a member of the Deutscher Verein in college - Ich bin schön, ja?).

Then, I've got these two songs I learned in Star Scouts decades ago, "I've Got Sixpence" (no cares have I to grieve me, no handsome little boys to deceive me - haha, what a thing to teach eight-year-old girls!) and "Playmate", which was also the song to a clapping game, except the other (non-scouts) girls sang it funny (the lyrics made no sense - "are you my darling friend for every apple juice? bring down the rainbow into the celery" - it all made sense later to me, much later. anyway, the version we sang in scouts was: oh come on playmate, come on and play with me, and bring your dollies three, climb up my apple tree. go up the ladder, slide down the bannister, and we'll be jolly friends for evermore). Anyway, some time ago, I chanced upon a wonderful book at Book Sale (worth Php15) called Treasure Island. One of the characters on this island was 90-plus-year-old Mildred Stonehenge and on her 92nd birthday, the youth of the island wanted to serenade her with her favorite song. The problem was that she couldn't recall the lyrics to the song. She knew it had "don't holler down my rain barrel, don't something down my cellar door". Knowing Playmate as I knew it then, I didn't make the connection right away. It's a good thing we bought Marguerite a CD with a collection of children's songs and Playmate with the holler down rain barrels and slide down cellar doors version was in it (now you get the clapping game evolved version?). So, to put a stop to this rambling, I just wanted to say I sing those two Scouts songs to my baby as well.

Then, because I'm a Musical fiend (particularly Les Mis - but, you're wrong; I don't sing "Castle on a Cloud" to Marguerite, too sad. I must confess I sometimes sing "Do You Hear the People Sing" to her and follow it with La Marseillaise - I hope the French don't mind), I sing "You're Never Fully-dressed without a Smile" (Annie), "Jolly Holiday" (Mary Poppins), "My Favorite Things" (Sound of Music), "Getting to Know You" (The King and I), and "We're off to See the Wizard" (Wizard of Oz), and the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song.

Sometimes I also go acoustic-folk-ish (no accompaniment, the inclusion of acoustic is just for atmosphere) and sing "Water Is Wide" (a song I'm in love with) and "Carrickfergus". If I'm in this mood and Marguerite is not falling asleep, I tend to move on to my Kenny Loggins medley (Footloose, JK! Seriously, Danny's Song, Conviction of the Heart, Watching the River Run, etc.).

Then, of course, there's our church's Sunday School Segue Songs (Every Promise in the Book Is Mine, Jesus the Sweetest Name I Know, Go Tell It on the Mountain).

Marguerite falls asleep listening to me sing those songs. Now, if you ever come across my daughter one day and you hear her singing a song and you think she's not exactly in tune, you know whom to blame.