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All The Pretty Little Horses
All Instruments: Douglas Milne, Lead Vocals: Helen Raw
From the TwinkleTrax album "Lullabies - 20 Classic Bedtime Songs And Lullabies"
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Go to sleepy little baby;
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
Dapples and Greys, Pintos and Bays,
Coach and six little horses.
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 in the meadow
Poor little baby cries mama
Birds and butterflies flutter 'round his eyes
Poor little baby cries mama
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry
Go to sleep my little baby
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
Blacks and bays, dapples and grays
All the pretty little horses
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry
Go to sleep my little baby
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
The background to this gentle American lullaby is particularly sad. It was written by an African American slave who was forced to suckle her master's baby. Her own baby was left, untended and uncared for. That her baby eventually died is hinted at in the original lyrics: "birds and butterflies peck at his eyes".
Even in its more sanitized "Birds and butterflies flutter round his eyes" version, this verse is often missed out from recordings of the song.
The song influenced George Gershwin's 1935 song "Summertime".
The songs "Before the Boogerman Gets You" and "Black Sheep, Where You Left You' Lamb are variations on this lullaby.
Origins text ©2011 TwinkleTrax Children's Songs.