My Dad’s Heart Songs
My Dad made up a song for me when I was three called “The Mushroom Song” after we went picking mushrooms in someone’s cow paddock in the country. This song is so meaningful to me not because of the lyrics or the tune but because I know that my Dad chose to spend that moment in time thinking about me. Because of this those moments have been captured in a song that speaks to my heart every time I have heard him sing it to me… I know that even when I am 80 this song will bring tears to my eyes and remind me of the soft, caring, loving part of my Dad.
Me as a baby listening to my Daddy sing songs to me
My Heart Songs
I have made up several songs for my babies…some funny and some to soothe them to sleep… My two year old will demand that I sing her special song as I feed her to sleep every time. When I sing the funny song called “Boobies are the best” I have to sing it several times of course. I know that these songs are already meaningful to her and if I continue to sing them, they will stay in her heart forever.
Boobies are Definitely the Best in our house!
Heart Songs in Uganda
A similar story about how a song has the power to resonate feelings of love for a lifetime is from Don Campbell’s book Mozart Effect for Children. He writes about a tribe in Uganda where a woman when first “conceives” of the idea of having a baby with a particular father in mind goes off by herself and listens for the song of the child. Once she has heard the song she returns to the tribe and teaches the song to her lover so they can sing it together as they make love. They invite the child to join them. After the child is conceived, the mother sings it to the baby in her womb, then she teaches it to the old women and midwives of the village so that throughout the labour and at the miraculous moment of birth, the child is greeted with its song. After the birth all the villagers learn the song of their new member and sing it to the child when it falls or hurts itself. It is sung in times of triumph and in ritual and initiations. The song can become part of the marriage ceremony when the child is grown, and at the end of life, his or her loved ones will gather around the deathbed and sing this song for the last time.
Create Your Own Heart Song
I LOVE this story and will definitely do this is I ever choose to bring another baby into the world (did I say that?). In the meantime I would love to support other women in creating their own heart songs or “Family Lullabies” or even songs about a moment in time they experienced together as in my “Mushroom Song”. These songs are not only sacred but also an effective tool that can be used to soothe and reassure your child when they are tired, when they hurt themselves, when they feel insecure and when YOU feel you need to connect with them again. Singing a funny song you have made up is also a FUN thing to do to lighten up your family when things start to get stressful! I have done this many times!
Anyone can do this by the way whether you believe you are musical or not! If you feel drawn to creating a Family Lullaby before conception to bring your baby to you, during pregnancy or after your child has been born Soundbirth will assist you in this process. Together we can create the song that will stay in your hearts forever!
I will leave you now with a few songs I made up recently. You will just have to imagine the tune!
Boobies are the Best
Boobies, Boobies, Boobies are the Best
In the shops, in the park, in front of our guest
In the sling, in the chair, in the bed while we rest
It doesn’t really matter where coz
Boobies are the Best!!!
(Simple, but my kids LOVE it!)
Beautiful Babies
Beautiful Babies
Snuggled Together
In Mamma’s big belly
In an ocean of Love
You have chosen these parents
To love, hold and guide you
And gently you’ll enter
This wonderful life!
(In memory of Sam xxx)
