Sing along (with lyrics)
Top 20 lullabies with lyrics
Lullabies work because they are slow, soft and repeated. Public-domain ones are printed so any parent can sing them without a recording; newer favourites link to the official page.
Chosen from lullaby collections and bedtime playlists; public-domain wording checked with Wikipedia and the Library of Congress, Oct 2026. Checked 2026-10-25. Nobody paid to be here. The buy links are plain search links, not affiliate links, so Peabody earns nothing from them.
Hush, Little Baby
Traditional (Southern US) · Ages 0-4
A promise-song with a gift in every verse, easy to extend as long as you like.
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Words
Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird won't sing, Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring. And if that diamond ring turns brass, Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass. And if that looking glass gets broke, Papa's gonna buy you a billy goat.
Brahms' Lullaby
Johannes Brahms, 1868 · Ages 0-4
The most recorded lullaby in the world; the English words below are the long-standing ones.
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Words
Lullaby, and good night, with roses bedight, With lilies o'er spread is baby's wee bed. Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed, Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed.
All the Pretty Little Horses
Traditional (Southern US) · Ages 0-5
A slow lullaby with a promise of horses at morning.
Watch for: Often traced to enslaved women singing to the slaveholder's baby while their own were left alone; some versions have darker verses.
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Words
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry, Go to sleep, little baby. When you wake, you shall have All the pretty little horses. Blacks and bays, dapples and grays, Coach and six little horses. Hush-a-bye, don't you cry, Go to sleep, little baby.
Golden Slumbers
Thomas Dekker, 1603 · Ages 0-5
The 400-year-old poem behind the Beatles song; the first four lines still work as a lullaby.
Watch for: The Beatles' song reuses only part of this poem and adds new words that are still under copyright.
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Words
Golden slumbers kiss your eyes, Smiles awake you when you rise. Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry, And I will sing a lullaby: Rock them, rock them, lullaby.
Sleep, Baby, Sleep
Traditional (German), English version 1800s · Ages 0-4
A quiet song about the sheep and the dream-tree.
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Words
Sleep, baby, sleep, Thy father watches the sheep, Thy mother is shaking the dreamland tree, And down fall the little dreams on thee. Sleep, baby, sleep.
All Through the Night
Welsh air, English words by Harold Boulton, 1884 · Ages 0-5
One of the best-loved lullabies in Wales and Britain.
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Words
Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee All through the night; Guardian angels God will send thee All through the night. Soft the drowsy hours are creeping, Hill and vale in slumber steeping, I my loving vigil keeping All through the night.
Sweet and Low
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850 · Ages 0-6
A poem set to music by Joseph Barnby; slow and wave-like.
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Words
Sweet and low, sweet and low, Wind of the western sea, Low, low, breathe and blow, Wind of the western sea! Over the rolling waters go, Come from the dying moon, and blow, Blow him again to me; While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.
Rock-a-Bye Baby
Traditional · Ages 0-3
Cradle song for rocking; the tune is easy.
Watch for: The cradle falls in the last line.
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Words
Rock-a-bye, baby, on the treetop, When the wind blows, the cradle will rock; When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, And down will come baby, cradle and all.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Jane Taylor, 1806 · Ages 0-6
Slow it down and it makes a good wind-down song.
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Words
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are! Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are!
Lavender's Blue
Traditional · Ages 0-5
A gentle English song that Disney later used in Cinderella.
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Words
Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green; When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen.
Bye, Baby Bunting
Traditional · Ages 0-3
A rocking rhyme with one soft rabbit.
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Words
Bye, baby bunting, Daddy's gone a-hunting, Gone to get a rabbit skin To wrap the baby bunting in.
Wee Willie Winkie
William Miller, 1841 · Ages 0-5
A bedtime rhyme where a nightgown-clad runner checks the windows.
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Words
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town, Upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown, Rapping at the window, crying through the lock, "Are the children all in bed, for now it's eight o'clock?"
Suo Gân
Traditional (Welsh) · Ages 0-5
A Welsh lullaby, sung in Welsh at bedtime for generations.
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Over the Rainbow
Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg, 1939 · Ages 0-12
From The Wizard of Oz; slow and dreamy. Words are copyrighted, so not printed.
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You Are My Sunshine
Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell, 1939 · Ages 0-8
A Louisiana song children ask for by name. Words are copyrighted, so not printed.
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Moon River
Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, 1961 · Ages 0-10
A slow waltz that parents often hum at bedtime. Words are copyrighted, so not printed.
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Baby Mine
Frank Churchill and Ned Washington, 1941 · Ages 0-6
The lullaby from Dumbo, sung to a baby elephant. Words are copyrighted, so not printed.
Watch for: The scene is about a mother separated from her baby, and many children find it sad.
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Dream a Little Dream of Me
Wilbur Schwandt, Fabian Andre and Gus Kahn, 1931 · Ages 0-10
A 1930s standard that is often hummed at bedtime. Words are copyrighted, so not printed.
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Edelweiss
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, 1959 · Ages 2-12
A short, easy tune from The Sound of Music. Words are copyrighted, so not printed.
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Hushabye Mountain
Richard and Robert Sherman, 1968 · Ages 0-6
From Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a lullaby about a dream land. Words are copyrighted, so not printed.
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