Musical adaptations
By 1890, the lyrics had been set to music, by American pianist and composer Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin. Dan Hornsby recorded this song for Victor BS-037380 RCA (BlueBird) Records released in 1929. David Gude performed the song on his 1961 Vanguard album New Folks. [2]
In 1963, songwriter Lucy Simon wrote a setting (she claimed it was "the first song I ever wrote") [3] that she recorded with her sister Carly as the Simon Sisters. Appearing on their debut album Meet the Simon Sisters (1964), the song became a minor hit for the duo, reaching No. 73 on the Billboard Pop singles chart [4] and No. 20 in Canada. [5] The song has been recorded by many artists, including: The Big 3 featuring Cass Elliot (1963); The Irish Rovers on their album The Life of the Rover (1969); Roger Whittaker on his children's album The Magical World of Roger Whittaker (1975); [6] Joanie Bartels, on her album "Lullaby Magic" (1985); Canadian children's entertainer Fred Penner on his album The Cat Came Back (1979); [7] and the Doobie Brothers for the children's music compilation In Harmony (1980). Their version also became a minor hit, reaching No. 76 on the Billboard Pop singles chart [8] and No. 31 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. [9]
Donovan wrote and sang a musical setting on his children's album H.M.S. Donovan (1971). [10]
Buffy Saint-Marie wrote and sang a version on Sesame Street in 1975, and on her album Sweet America (1976).
Children's entertainer Joanie Bartels sang a rendition on her premiere album, "Lullaby Magic." (1985)
Producer David Bernard Wolf set the poem for the Barney & Friends 1995 album Barney's Sleepytime Songs.
Kevin Roth created a version for his album Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (1996). [11]
Tatiana Cameron sings her version on her lullaby album A Chance to Dream (2006).
David Tamulevich (of the folk duo Mustard's Retreat) wrote new original music to the poem, which was subsequently released in 2011 on the Mustard's Retreat CD Living in the Dream. (2011)
Composer Christopher Klaich composed a contemporary lullaby concert setting for soprano Bianca Showalter which has piano or alternatively chamber orchestral accompaniment (circa 2013).
Composer Stephen DeCesare composed an SATB version of the poem, (2013).
Valentine Wolfe released a heavy metal version in their album A Child's Bestiary, (2016). [12]
"America the Beautiful" is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two never met.
Eugene Field Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. He was known as the "poet of childhood".
"Old Folks at Home" is a minstrel song written by Stephen Foster in 1851. Since 1935, it has been the official state song of Florida, although in 2008 the original lyrics were revised. It is Roud Folk Song Index no. 13880.
Lucy Elizabeth Simon was an American composer for the theatre and of popular songs. She recorded and performed as a singer and songwriter, and was known for the musicals The Secret Garden (1991) and Doctor Zhivago (2011).
HMS Donovan is the ninth studio album, and tenth album overall, from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It marks the second album of Donovan's children's music, after the For Little Ones portion of A Gift from a Flower to a Garden. HMS Donovan is the second double album of Donovan's career, and was released in the UK only, in July 1971.
Pied Piper is the twentieth studio album, by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It marks the third album of his children's music, after the For Little Ones portion of A Gift from a Flower to a Garden and H.M.S. Donovan. Pied Piper was released in both the UK and US on 19 March 2002.
"Lullaby of Broadway" is a popular song with music written by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin, published in 1935. The lyrics salute the nightlife of Broadway and its denizens, who "don't sleep tight until the dawn."
"Pledging My Love" is a blues ballad. It was written by Ferdinand Washington and Don Robey and published in 1954.
"You Are So Beautiful" is a song credited to Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher that was first released in 1974 on Preston's ninth studio album, The Kids & Me. It was also the B-side of his single "Struttin'". Later that same year, English singer Joe Cocker released a slower version of the song on his album I Can Stand a Little Rain. Cocker's version was produced by Jim Price, and released as a single in November 1974. It became Cocker's highest-charting solo hit in the United States, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, and at number four on Canada's Top Singles chart.
"The Way You Look To-night" is a song from the film Swing Time that was performed by Fred Astaire and composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Dorothy Fields. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. Fields remarked, "The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn't stop, it was so beautiful."
Frank Lewin was an American composer and teacher.
"But Beautiful" is a popular song with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen, the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was published in 1947.
Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (2004) is an album collecting traditional lullabies sung by women from Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, as well as Syria, Libya, and Cuba, plus Afghanistan and Palestine, mixed with Western performers singing translated versions of the songs.
In Harmony: A Sesame Street Record and In Harmony 2 are two compilation albums of children's music performed by various artists, released in 1980 and 1981, respectively.
The Way We Were is the thirty-second studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the spring of 1974 by Columbia Records and was a return to singing songs that his audience was already familiar with after Solitaire, his previous LP that was less reliant on covers of recent pop hits, did not perform well.
Wynken, Blynken & Nod is a 1938 Silly Symphonies cartoon, adapted from Eugene Field's poem of the same name. Like other Symphonies at the time, it utilized the multiplane camera. It was directed by Graham Heid, produced by Walt Disney Productions, and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The three children bore similarities to Michael Darling in the 1953 Disney feature film, Peter Pan.
Dream Lady, also known as the Eugene Field Memorial, is a bronze sculpture by Edward McCartan. It is located in Lincoln Park, Chicago.
Mabel Landrum Torrey was an American sculptor best known for her statuettes and sculptures of children. A number of her works were inspired by the poetry of Eugene Field.
You Got Me Singing is a collaborative studio album by American singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer, recorded with her father Jack Palmer. It was released on July 15, 2016, through Amanda Palmer's label 8 ft. Records and Cooking Vinyl. It peaked at 16 on the American Americana/Folk Albums chart.
Story Songs for Country Folks is a studio album by country music singer Faron Young with backing vocals by The Jordanaires. It was released in 1964 by Mercury Records.
