Title: Duérmete Mi Niño

General Information about Item:

• Genre and Sub Genre
  • Verbal folklore: Lullaby

• Language: Spanish

• Country where Item is from: Colombia

Informant Data:

Martha Galvis was born in Bogotá, Colombia on December 14, 1963. She was born to two Colombian parents and grew up in Colombia. She lived in Colombia until 1993 when she began working on cruise ships and then moved to Maryland, USA, where she currently resides, in 1994.

Contextual Data:

Martha grew up in Colombia to Colombian parents, so she was completely immersed in the Colombian culture. Spanish was her first language. When she was a child, her parents sang her multiple lullabies common in Colombia. One of these lullabies is Duérmete Mi Niño. Lullabies like this one are usually sung to young children as a way to help them fall asleep. It is one of the most well-known lullabies in Colombia and many other Spanish speaking countries.

Item:

Duérmete mi niño, que tengo que hacer
Lavar los pañales, y hacer de comer                                                                                             Duérmete mi niño, duérmete solito
Que cuando te despiertes, te daré un dulcito.                                                                           Duérmete mi niño, duérmete mi sol
duérmete pedazo, de mi corazón.

Translation

Go to sleep my son, because I have to                                                                                               Wash the diapers, and cook the food                                                                                                       Go to sleep my son, go to sleep alone                                                                                           Because when you wake up, I will give you a treat.                                                                                 Go to sleep my son, go to sleep my sun                                                                                                   Go to sleep, piece of my heart.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

Duérmete mi niño, que tengo que hacer
Lavar los pañales, y hacer de comer                                                                                             Duérmete mi niño, duérmete solito
Que cuando te despiertes, te daré un dulcito.                                                                           Duérmete mi niño, duérmete mi sol
duérmete pedazo, de mi corazón.

Informant’s Comments:

Martha highlighted the fact that this song is used to put babies to sleep at night. It is also meant to put to babies to sleep for a nap so the mother can return to domestic tasks. She noted that this probably the most commonly used lullaby in Colombia because of its soothing nature and direct ties to sleep.

Collector’s Comments:

This is definitely one the lullabies that I remember the most from my childhood. It is very soothing and easy to remember. The fact that this lullaby and many others are usually only song by mothers is really evident of Hispanic culture, where women were commonly the ones who stayed at home and took care of the baby.

Collector’s Name: Chris Quintero

Tags/Keywords:

• Lullaby, Spanish folklore, Spanish, Colombia, Colombian