Ukrainian Lullabies

I have recently found a project on lullabies by Ella Yevtushenko, and you will find a link to the songs below.

It has been interesting to look at some messages that the Ukrainian lullabies deliver and some features:

• They are mostly folk songs. Many of them include an element of charm or spelling. The mother’s goal is to foretell the health and happiness of the baby. It’s still a popular phenomenon in our mentality. 
• The stars guard the sleeping baby, and the night covers the baby with a blanket. There are a lot of different flowers as well: they often serve as a magic symbol of protection.
• Very few of the old Ukrainian lullabies were aimed at scaring babies. “Babay” – a bogey man is probably the worst character you can find in them. However, some of such lullabies mostly talk about safety in one’s own house – it’s where one is protected from the babay. It reminds me of the current events a lot. 
• Some of the lullabies talk about the baby son who will grow up and go to war. They even include the mother’s mourning when he is killed.
• Trees or wood are often mentioned in the lullabies. It’s not about the household items and nature that surrounded our ancestors only. It’s also about an ancient symbol of life: the way from the cradle to the coffin, both made of wood.
• Some of the lullabies are aimed to bring relief to the mother rather than put the baby to sleep. They include the mothers’ complaints about their hard lives: poverty, bad luck, hard work, and lack of time to spend with the baby.
• The characters mostly have to do with nature. The kitty often comes and is introduced to calm down the baby. Compare it with the most popular Russian lullaby saying, “beddy-bye, beddy-bye, don’t lie on the edge of the bed because a grey wolf will come and bite you!”