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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
Sleepy-time has come for my baby,
Baby now is going to sleep.
Kiss mama goodnight and we'll turn out the light,
While I tuck you in bed 'neath your covers tight.
Sleepy-time has come for my baby,
Baby now is going to sleep.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Sleepytime" is a warm and simple lullaby built around the routine of bedtime: the goodnight kiss, the light going out, the covers being tucked in tight. These small, repeated rituals of the end of the day are among the most comforting in a young child's life, and a lullaby that names them becomes part of the ritual itself.
The word "sleepytime" has been in use as an affectionate nursery term for sleep since at least the nineteenth century, appearing in various children's songs and rhymes as a gentle signal that the day's activities are coming to an end. It belongs to the same vocabulary as "bedtime", "nighttime", and "dreamtime" — words that make sleep itself into something with a name and a character, something that arrives rather than merely happens.
The simplicity of the lyric — just two verses, the second a shortened repeat of the first — suits the purpose of the lullaby exactly. The song does not need to be long; it only needs to be repeated, softly, until the baby is asleep. Our recording treats it with the quiet care it deserves.
