Collection Information: Duérmete Niño was collected on November 14th, 2013 in Madrid, Spain. It belongs to a sub-genre of nursery rhymes called lullabies.
Informant: The informant was Guillermo Oliveros, a 65 year old Spaniard who was born in Madrid, Spain. He stayed in Madrid his entire life, while his two siblings moved throughout Spain. Her met his Madridian while in college, and they have remained in Madrid where they have five children together.
Text:
Duérmete niño
Duémeter ya
Que viene el coco
Y te llevará
Duérmete niño
Duéremete ya
Que viene el coco
Y te comerá
Translation:
Sleep my baby,
Sleep, baby, do!
The boogeyman’s coming
And he will take you.
Sleep my baby,
Sleep, baby, do!
The boogeyman’s coming
And he will eat you.
Context: This lullaby can be performed by an elderly figure, whether male or female. This lullaby is sung to infant children prior to bed, in order to assist them in their slumber. The informant sang it to his grandchildren in my presence and we further discussed the context of this lullaby in particular. He couldn’t recall whether his parents or grandparents sung this song to him, but he has certainly sung it to his children and grandchildren.
Meaning and Interpretation: This lullaby’s intention is to put children, but primarily infants to sleep. The boogeyman is a monster often referenced in context with slumber, dreams and sleeping. This lullaby tells children to go to sleep or the boogeyman will come and eat you. However, the sounds are soothing enough that it will put children and infants to sleep. While infants may not understand the meaning behind the lullaby, some children will. This is also a part of the series of lullabies that are a bit scary and morbid; however, still put children to sleep.
Collector’s Information: Malcolm Leverett, Dartmouth College ’14, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
