Hush, Little Baby is a traditional lullaby. It is thought to be American (mockingbirds are from the American continent), but the author and date of origin are unknown. The lyrics promise all kinds of rewards to the child if he or she is quiet.
The structure is simple enough for parents to ad-lib further verses as required. This song has had the unusual distinction of two separate manifestations as a popular song, first as the song "Bo Diddley" by the singer of that name, and then as "Mockingbird", a well-selling song by the brother-and-sister team, Inez and Charlie Foxx in 1963, and then, for then husband and wife, James Taylor and Carly Simon in 1974, singing the Foxx arrangement. Toby Keith and his teenage daughter Krystal covered the song in 2004.
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Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.
And if that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.
And if that diamond ring turns brass, Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.
And if that looking glass gets broke, Mama's gonna buy you a billy goat.
And if that billy goat don't pull, Mama's gonna buy you a cart and bull.
And if that cart and bull turn over, Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.
And if that dog named Rover won't bark. Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cart.
And if that horse and cart fall down, Well you'll still be the sweetest little baby in town.
"Hush, Little Baby" was sung by Anne Bancroft in the 1962 film, The Miracle Worker to Patty Duke who played the young Helen Keller. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056241/
Elvis Presley performs a tune called "Puppet On A String" in the 1965 film Girl Happy which heavily borrows from the "Hush, Little Baby" structure. "Puppet On A String" was written by songwriters Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper. The films score is heavily influenced by nursery rhymes and also contains an instrumental version of "Puppet On A String" that is indistinguishable from the lullaby hummed.
Singer James Hetfield recites a variation of "Hush Little Baby" in the 1991 Metallica song "Enter Sandman".
On the album Momentum artist Toby Mac adapted into a song called "Irene".
In 2005, rapper Eminem adapted "Hush Little Baby" into a song called "Mockingbird" for his daughter.
Indie band Arcade Fire references the line with the lyrics "if my little mocking bird don't sing/then daddy won't buy her no diamond ring" in "Antichrist Television Blues."
Singer Bobby McFerrin and cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed a variant of this tune on their 1992 album "Hush".
Reggae and dancehall artist Barrington Levy incorporated themes and syntactical structure from "Hush, Little Baby" in his 1984 single "Mini Bus (On the Telephone)".
Joan Baez recorded this song on a few albums, both live and studio versions.
Rose McGowan as Paige Matthews sang a variation of this song in Sense and Sense Ability an episode on the TV series Charmed.
In the 21st episode of the 5th season of Designing Women entitled "The Big Circle" Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter) sings the song to Randa Oliver (Lexi Randall) to try to get her to sleep. To which Randa sleepily replied --"It's a song about shopping!"
Katie Melua also sings a cover of this song on her debut album called 'Call Off The Search'. The song titled 'Mockingbird'. The sound of the song is more blues than lullaby. The lyric has rewritten too by Mike Batt.
Howie Mandel sang the following lyrics in his stand up act in the 1980s in a little boy's voice; Hush little baby don't say a word Mommy's gonna buy you a mocking bird And if that mockingbird don't sing I'm gonna grab his feathers and rip his wing And if that mockingbird can't fly I'm gonna grab a needle and stick it in his eye And if that mockingbird can't see I'm gonna grab his leg and break his knee And if that mockingbird is dead I'm gonna buy you a parrot and name him "Fred"
In DC comics' Batman #617 (a part of Hush-series) The Scarecrow sings the lullaby while he is riding on Huntress' motorbike. Also Batman villain Hush took his name from that song.
In the Bioshock Infinite E3 2011 Demo, the Character Elizabeth sings the song to calm a dying horse despite the game being set in 1908, many decades before the song was created. This is due to the game's non-chronological timeline with tears in time through which elements of future developments can leak into the media of the time.
On May 19 2010, John Green of the vlogbrothers posted a video entitled "Adorable Baby is Adorable" on YouTube in which he sings an original version of the lullaby whereby he promises to buy a diamond ring, a case of wine, a superpower, a volcano eruptin', a diaper rash, some polka dots, a pacific isle, the Sultanate of Oman, some waterlilies and a hand-knit quilt in the event that the mockingbird fails to sing.