Baby Play List

When you first have a baby you are awake pretty much all the time.  If you have a baby like ours, there is a whole lot of rocking and walking and wiggling and wrangling and really anything that will get the baby to stop crying and maybe even go to sleep.  I created a playlist for that occasion that goes from active to more subdued.  Clara and I still listen to it quite often. 

All of the songs had to be suitable for children and even if slow, they couldn't be sad.  This, my friends, is a tall order.  OK, a tall order for someone who has a limited amount of time in which to put something together.

Here it is:

1.  Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae (often substituted with "Girl put your sleeper on, tell me your favorite song, now go ahead put your head down . . . ")
2.  Lovin' in My Baby's Eyes by Taj Mahal (the first song we danced to at our wedding)
3.  Late in the Evening by Paul Simon (favorite line "my mother laughed the way some ladies do, well it's late in the evening and the music's seeping though")
4.  Just the Two of Us by Bill Withers (Will Smith's song is loosely based on this one) (really anything by Bill Withers would be good)
5.  Don't You Worry Bout a Thing by Stevie Wonder (because Stevie's Stevie and early motherhood is all about worrying)
6.  As by Stevie Wonder (See Above)
7.  Restless by Alison Krauss & Union Station (babies are nothing if not restless)
8.  It Won't Be Like This for Long by Darius Rucker (literal depiction of having a tiny baby)
9.  How Sweet it is to be Loved by You by James Taylor (self explanatory)
10.  All-American Girl by Carrie Underwood (cheesy, but cute for a baby girl)
11.  Only One by James Taylor (again, self explanatory)
12.  In the Palm of Your Hand by Alison Krauss from the Bluegrass Gospel Collection (I have always loved that song)
13.  Baby Mine by Alison Krauss (the perfect lullaby)
14.  Godspeed (Sweet Dreams) by the Dixie Chicks (another good lullaby)
15.  Kingdom Come by Kirk Franklin and Jill Scott (might be my favorite gospel song ever)
16.  St. Judy's Comet by Paul Simon ("and if I can't sing my boy to sleep well it makes your famous daddy look so dumb, look so dumb," this song inspired the whole playlist)

I would add this if it were available on itunes: