Hush-A-Bye, Don’t You Cry is a hauntingly beautiful American folk Lullaby. It is thought to have originated from songs sung by African-American slaves to their master’s children.
Today there are many versions of the song usually under the title All the Pretty Little Horses by various celebrated artists, who have changed the lyrics and altered the melody to create their own original versions.
However, at its most basic it is a beautiful song to sing or play to a baby or child as they fall asleep at night.
Lyrics for Hush-A-Bye, Don’t You Cry
There are many different lyrics that can be found for this rhyme, but the following is the rhyme at it’s most basic and sweetest:
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry,
Go to sleep my little baby.
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
Black and bays, dapples, grays,
All the pretty little horses.
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry,
Go to sleep my little baby.
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry,
Go to sleep my little baby.
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
Some other versions are longer and are a little less innocent such as:
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake, you’ll have cake,
And all the pretty little horses.
Black and bay, dapple and grey,
Coach and six little horses,
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby,
When you wake, you’ll have cake,
And all the pretty little horses.
Way down yonder, down in the meadow,
There’s a poor wee little lamby.
The bees and the butterflies pickin’ at its eyes,
The poor wee thing cried for her mammy.
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake, you’ll have cake,
And all the pretty little horses.
The use of the word pickin’ at its eyes can seem a little morbid, so many instead use the phrase:
flutter round it’s eyes
Which keeps the innocent and sweetness intact in the lullaby.
