Song Talk #5: Big Rocks Are Falling

"Big Rocks Are Falling" is a “lullabye” from my second CD, Practical Man.  It was inspired by the simple observation that traditional lullabyes can be, well, a bit dark.  I was thinking specifically of

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all!

But there’s also

Bye, baby Bunting,
Daddy’s gone a-hunting,
To fetch a little rabbit skin
To wrap my baby Bunting in.

...which, while no doubt a perfectly acceptable sentiment in a hunting culture, is at least a bit jarring when juxtaposed with Tales of Peter Rabbit.

Traditional English lullabyes are mild, however, compared to how babies in some other cultures are lulled to sleep.  A mother of the Luo people in Kenya might croon

Rock, rock, rock,
The baby who cries will be eaten by a hyena...

And examples form other countries can be just as dark.

By comparison, “Big Rocks Are Falling From the Blue Sky” is a fairly cheery message for a lullabye.  Most children who are old enough to appreciate absurdity seem to get a kick out of it, rather than being scarred for life.  I must admit that I have yet to try this song out as a device for settling down a young child at bedtime; I’d be happy to hear from any parents who have made the experiment.

Why rocks from the sky?  At the time, the idea of an inexplicable rain of boulders struck me as a unique combination of “wildly implausible” with “over-the-top terrifying” –just the kind of thing one would not want to impress on a young child’s mind at bedtime. I was not consciously thinking of a particular incident. However, it’s possible that vague recollections of actual historical accounts were stirring in the back of my mind:

    “One of the most well-known cases of falling stones occurred in Harrisonville, Ohio, in Oct. 1901. The Buffalo Express, a small local newspaper, reported that on Oct. 13, "a small boulder came crashing through the window of Zach Dye's house." Nobody was seen in the vicinity. But this was just the beginning. Within a few days, the whole town was supposedly afflicted by stones and boulders falling from a clear sky. Perplexed as to where the stones were coming from, the townspeople rounded up all the men and boys of Harrisonville to rule out the phenomenon being caused by a gang of trouble-makers (it was assumed that females would not be capable of such as act). The stones continue to fall. Several days later, the rain of stones stopped just as suddenly as it had started.

    Since this event, there have been many other documented occasions of stones falling from the sky, including in Sumatra (1903), Belgium (1913), France (1921), Australia (repeatedly between 1946 and 1962), New Zealand (1963), New York (1973), and Arizona (1983). ” From https://www.sott.net/article/290586-The-strange-and-unexplained-phenomenon-of-raining-stones

Whatever its risks and limitations as an actual lullabye, “Big Rocks Are Falling” has been a popular request at concerts. I love to hear the crowd belting out the chorus:

Big rocks are falling from the blue sky
Falling thick and fast
Falling by the score
Big rocks are falling from the blue sky
So go to sleep, now,
Baby weep no more.

(You can purchase "Big Rocks Are Falling" or the entire CD Practical Man from CD Baby, here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tomlips2 )