english lullaby | Dartmouth Folklore Archive

Title: Oscar Mayer Lullaby

General Information about Item:

Informant Data:

C. S. is a 19 year old freshman at Dartmouth College from Concord, Massachusetts, but was originally born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was raised by her mother Karen, who is a research doctor, and father Bobby, who works in healthcare, alongside her sister, Amy. C.S. plans on majoring in engineering, and in her free time, likes to ski and play sports. Her family practiced Catholicism, but C.S. does not currently consider herself Catholic.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

C.S.’s mother loved the Oscar Mayer commercial when she was young because she thought the little boy singing the song was so cute and the jingle itself was so clever. When she had C.S., she realized that C.S.’s name fit perfectly with the jingle from her childhood, so she began to sing it to her as a baby. She sang C.S. the lullaby every night after she read her a book, so it became an integral part of her childhood.

Cultural Context:

Since the lullaby is customized to C.S.’s name, her family is likely the only one who sings this lullaby. However, C.S. wants to pass the lullaby down to her daughter or son, catering it to whatever their name happens to be. This lullaby is an example of how culture can influence lullabies, as her mother got the lullaby from a memorable commercial.

Lullaby Text:

(to the Oscar Meyer jingle):

My little baby’s first name starts with C-O-U-R-T

My baby’s name continues N-E-Y-R-O-S-E

Oh, I love to kiss her everyday

And if you ask me why I’ll say

Because Courtney Rose is the cutest S-E-P-U-C-H-A

Audio:

Informant’s Comments:

“I’ve never seen the Oscar Mayer commercial, but I know exactly how the jingle goes because my mother has sung both versions to me so many times.”

Collector’s Comments:

I had to look up the commercial to see what the tune of the lullaby was, and the commercial is from 1973.

Collector: Piper Stevens

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