Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Go To Sleep You Little Babe


Written By: Gillian Welch, T-Bone Burnett, Alan Lomax, Sidney Carter
Performed By: Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, and Gillian Welch

If you have seen the movie, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, you will remember this song from the scene with the "Sirens" (Women by the water).I have seen this movie several times, I have the soundtrack album and have always liked this song. I had never really given much thought to the meaning of the song, until I began this post. In researching the song I have found several very different meanings for this particular song. A short synopsis for each meaning I have found is below:


1.     Some say it is a song about temptation and seduction.


2.     Some say it is about an older women telling a baby that its mother has gone away (with her red shoes 
        on - meaning to be a prostitute) and that the father has died. This older person is planning to poison the                  
        baby (honey in the rock - lay your bones on the alabaster stone). Knowing that what they are doing is 
        wrong, but they are saving the baby from a horrible life with no one to care for it. 


3.     Others say that it is a slave-style song about a mammy/grandmother caring for the baby since the 
        mother is gone and the father is presumably dead. This person is trying to care for the baby but with
        few means of doing so.  


Give it a listen and see what you think!




Go to sleep you little baby, (go to sleep you little baby).


(My Son at Grandparent's House 1985)




Go to sleep you little baby, (go to sleep you little baby).
Your momma's gone away and your daddy's gone to stay,
Didn't leave nobody, but the baby.


(My Son - Lindseyville, Ky. 1987)




Go to sleep you little baby, (go to sleep you little baby).


(My Son at Home 1987)


Go to sleep you little baby, (go to sleep you little baby).


(My Son at Grandma's 1992)


Everybody's gone in the cotton and the corn,
Didn't leave nobody, but the baby.


(Cotton Field - Murfreesboro, Tennessee)




You're a sweet little baby, (you're a sweet little baby).


(My Daughter 8 months old - With Trophy Won in Pageant)





You're a sweet little baby ,(you're a sweet little baby).


(my Daughter - In Beauty Pageant 1998)












Honey and the rock and the sugar don't stop,
Gonna bring a bottle to the baby.






Don't you weep pretty baby, (don't you weep pretty baby).


(Me and My Son - 6 months old - 1986)


Don't you weep pretty baby, (don't you weep pretty baby).


(My Son - 3 months old)








She's long gone with her red shoes on,
Gonna need another lovin' baby.




Go to sleep you little baby, (go to sleep you little baby).


(My Daughter - 1997)




Go to sleep you little baby, (go to sleep you little baby).


(My Daughter -2002)




You and me and the devil makes three,
Don't need no other lovin' baby.


(Pluto Statue Inside French Lick Hotel - West Baden, Indiana)




Go to sleep you little baby, (go to sleep you little baby).


(My Daughter and My Son - In the Van on the Ride Home From Disney World 2001)




Go to sleep you little baby, (go to sleep you little baby).


(My Daughter, My Son, and the Dog - Christmas Day 2011)


Come and lay your bones on the alabaster stones and be my ever lovin' baby.


(Overton Park Memorial - Memphis 2009)






I look forward to hearing what you think about the song and its meaning. For more fun with photos and song head over to Hootin' Anni's Thursday Theme Song.
Below is a video of the scene from the movie.

7 comments:

  1. This was one of Rick's and my favorite movies. The first half dozen times I saw it I would catch something new that I had missed in prior viewings due to laughing so hard at most scenes. (damn, we're in a tight spot; my hair, them sirens done turned him into a horny toad just to mention a few)... and we loved the siren scenes....and the song but I had only thought about the prostitute angle of the song with the red shoes. Hadn't considered poisoning the baby. Something new to think about!

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  2. It's always difficult with a song that is open to so many different interpretations, isn't it?
    I love the laundry basket photo.
    K

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    1. That photo has always been one of my favorites of my daughter. She used to love to play in the laundry baskets.

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  3. I've seen the movie a couple of times and have the soundtrack too. I hadn't really thought that much about this song but classified it in the back of my mind as a song of seduction. The rhythm is reminiscent of something that might have been sung in the cotton fields. All three suggestions would fit. I think I'll listen to it again.

    Love the photos!

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  4. What wonderful photos you have - the memories! And perfect to accompany this song. I have always believed it to be a song of seduction - I love the song and the movie!

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  5. This is absolutely incredible!!! I don't know how you do it...but just, please, keep 'em coming. A glorious time frame of your children, growing and a perfect song for it all. Awesome.

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  6. WOW you have a treasure of well preserved and lovely pictures of your family. All are perfect for this song. I think I'll just enjoy these three lovely voices rather than ponder the meaning. What a beautiful song.
    Hugs Madi and Mom

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