Bedtime Singing

Last night at bedtime, Madeleine chose an oldie but a goody for her lullaby.

MADELEINE: Mom?  Can you sing "Joseph's face was as black as the NIGHT?"
ME: Sure.
MADELEINE: Mom?  "Joseph's face was as black as the night" is really "Under African Skies" but sometimes I call it "Joseph's face was as black as the night" to be SILLY.

I have not heard her refer to the song this way before.  I have heard her, on many occasions, refer to it as "Bunder Bafrican Byes," which she finds HILARIOUS; however, given that "Joseph's face was as black as the night" is the first line of the song, I was able to understand what song she had chosen even WITHOUT her subsequent explanation.

The song, for those of you unfamiliar with it, can be heard here:




At any rate, I sang through the entire song for Madeleine last night, at the end of which she threw her arms around my neck, yawned, and seemed ready to drift off.  To enhance her drowsiness, I told her I would sing her one more song. 

Then this happened:
ME: (singing) White coral bells, upon a splendid star...
MADELEINE: (singing quietly) Joesph's face was as black as the night...
ME: Lily of the valley deck my garden wall...
MADELEINE: (singing louder) The pale yellow moon shone in his eyes...
ME: Oh, don't you wish...
MADELEINE: (bellowing) Joesph's faaaaace was as blaaaack as the niiiight...

I finally conceded to Madeleine in our game of dueling voices, and allowed her to sing "Under African Skies" to herself.

It went something like this:
MADELEINE: Joseph's face was as black as the night, the pale yellow moon shone in his eyes...his path was marked by...by...by.. Mom what comes next?
ME: By the stars in the southern hemishpere...
MADELEINE: And he walked his days under African Skies.  Oops!  I forgot!  I don't know ALL the words to "Under African Skies."  Mom?  What comes next?

I then spent the next few minutes singing the song, one line at a time, in order for her to copy after me.  When we got to the end of the song, she ABSOLUTELY refused to believe me that the final stanza repeats the lyrics that open the song.  In righteous anger towards me for supplying her with what she believed to be the wrong words, she insisted, louder and louder, that I tell her WHAT COMES NEXT!

ME: Honey, I'm telling you, it's the exact same words as at the beginning.  Isn't that neat?  The song ends exactly the way it started!
MADELEINE: (sighing in exasperation) Mom, you better just sing me "Under African Skies" AGAIN.

So I sang it a third time.  After which she kicked me out of her bed because I was making her too hot, even when I promised not to snuggle up to her and just lay beside her because I was comfy.  Way to show Mama the love.

Below, you can see Madeleine perform the song (with my help):




And THEN, she pleaded with me in desperation to turn my video recorder back on, so she could re-sing the middle section, which, according to her, I messed up her and her song the first time:



Phew!  Glad she ran through that one again after I messed up her.  It was so different the second time around!