Classic lullaby album?

July 28, 2013 8:57 PM

I am looking for an album of classic lullabies. Any recommendations for a good one? Prefer one with vocals. (Will also take recommendations for non-classic lullaby songs that are good for rocking a baby to sleep!) Thanks!
posted by dpx.mfx to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

Now the Day is Over, by The Innocence Mission.
posted by rtha at 9:44 PM on July 28, 2013

I really really love Josephine Cameron's voice, everything she does is amazing. She has a lullaby album called "Close Your Eyes."
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:47 PM on July 28, 2013

My son loved Teensville by Chet Atkins. YMMV.
posted by Ideefixe at 10:11 PM on July 28, 2013

The Rockabye Baby series of albums are artist-centric reworkings of pop music into (instrumental) lullabies. YMMV and they're all a mixed bag, but I've been really surprised by how well they work when they do.

On the far sleepier side, a lot of Hammock's work is very soothing. See also: Slow Dancing Society, Darshan Ambient, Eluvium the Album Leaf and Bon Iver. All of these are gentle, mostly instrumental, with a few soft, slow vocals. They may be a bit too dreamy and abstract for an infant (which I realize might not be helpful), but they might help you fall asleep (which would be; right?).

On that note, Slowdive's Souvlaki has long been one of my big go-to albums for teenage/adult lullabies.
posted by byanyothername at 10:11 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

My little brother and nephew both fell instantly asleep when listening to the album "Return To Pooh Corner" by Kenny Loggins. It even relaxed me almost to the point of sleep a few times. It's really quite lovely.
posted by katyggls at 11:50 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

Yes Rockabye baby are great with the bonus that if you are into any of the genres (I love grunge) then you too can sing along because you clearly know all the words...
posted by chasles at 3:35 AM on July 29, 2013

You *must* get Sophie Barker & KK's Lullaby album. It is simply the classic songs (which, face it, everyone needs to know by heart anyway), in the most beautiful, unsyrupy, unornamented production, sung in Barker's lovely breathy voice. (You may know her as the vocalist of Zero 7.) As lullabies, for small children, it's perfect, but even after my children are too old to "need" lullabies, I still listen to it often as great relaxing music, and never get tired of it.

For heavy-duty get-infant-to-sleep-pleeeeaaaasse you can also try Heartbeat Lullabies, which is ridiculously soporific (and did actually work on our incredibly difficult sleeper, until it stopped working, that is.) I can't listen to this anymore without awful flashbacks of rocking a small child until my arms wanted to fall off in the wee hours of the night.
posted by snarfois at 4:34 AM on July 29, 2013

Elizabeth Mitchell has some nice ones.
posted by gudrun at 7:30 AM on July 29, 2013

There's a collection of songs called "The Planet Sleeps" which is a collection of traditional sleep songs from World Music.
posted by effluvia at 8:03 AM on July 29, 2013

I do not like Linda Rondstadt. However, this album is amazing and lulled my kids to sleep many, many times over the years.
posted by tacodave at 3:09 PM on July 29, 2013