Title: I Don’t Want To Live on The Moon

General Information About Item:

Verbal Folklore Language: English

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Informant:  B.T.

Date Collected: 10-18-21

Informant Data: 

B.T. is a junior at Dartmouth. He is from the East Coast and is involved with athletics and volunteer groups on campus. He has an older brother and a younger sister. B.T. said that this lullaby is the one he remembers and liked the most because it came from his favorite childhood show.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: 

This lullaby was sung to B.T. because he and his parents would often watch the show Sesame Street together as a family bonding activity when he was little. This was a song that one of his favorite characters on the show sang and he repeated the lyrics he could remember often so his parents decided to sing it as a lullaby.

Cultural Context: 

This lullaby is based on the song called I Don’t Want to Live On The Moon released in 1991 on the popular children’s show Sesame Street. It appears on their soundtrack album entitled “Jim Henson: A Sesame Street Celebration (Vol. 2).” On the show, this song is performed by the beloved TV Show character Ernie.

Item:
Well, I’d like to visit the moon
On a rocket ship high in the air
Yes, I’d like to visit the moon
But I don’t think I’d like to live there
Though I’d like to look down at the earth from above
I would miss all the places and people I love
So although I might like it for one afternoon
I don’t want to live on the moon

Associated file: 

Informant Comments: 
“I think since I loved watching Sesame Street as a kid that my parents thought that if I heard a song from those characters that it would make me happy or soothed so I could fall asleep just like when I watch TV and fall asleep during the show.”

Collector Comments: 
I also really enjoyed Sesame Street as a kid and found it incredibly creative how his parents liked the song so much and knew that he enjoyed it enough to make it a lullaby for him.

Collectors Name: Reem Atallah

Tags: Dartmouth, English, male, student, verbal folklore