lullabies

One of my very earliest memories of music would be from my parents. They sung around the house. My father used to whistle popular tunes of the 60s and 70s, and also much older songs that he knew from the 30's onwards, mostly from musicals. My mother liked a few popular songs of the day, but did not sing very often. Mostly, she would hum and 'la, la, la.' The other time I heard my mother singing was at bedtime, when she would sing a lullaby.

My mother's repertoire was limited to two songs, mainly. Greensleeves and a Beatles track, the title of which I do not recall. Everynight, my mother would attempt to get me to go to sleep by singing a single song once. Invariably, I would demand far more singing before obliging, however. I wanted nothing more than to relax whilst watching the dull lamp bulb turn into pretty colored spots by staring into it and then shutting my eyes, and to keep doing so, I had to keep my mother singing.

Since those early days, Greensleeves has been a favorite song of mine. I have heard many versions. The recorded one that stands out the most is the Richard Clayderman version. Another family memory is when my son first learned to play this tune on the keyboard. He had never heard Greensleeves, apart from the ice cream truck melody, so did not know the words. He managed to teach himself how to play the song by reading the notation and it was a favorite tune of his for a few years, also. I was very proud that the same song could be enjoyed by three generations.