From the 1920 musical “Baby Blues”.
words by Alex Rogers
music by C. Luckeyth Roberts
The sheet music:
Accompaniment:
Lyrics
One of the grandest things in life
Is to watch a lovin’ wife
Rock the cradle of her baby chile
Folks may call it what they choose
But it’s just a tender “blues”
That keeps hummin’ thru her mind most all the while
Hummin’ like the honey bees
Little anxious thoughts like these
Chorus
“Oh, won’t you rock-a-bye my baby
Rock-a-bye my baby, do
Oh, baby do, oh, baby do
An’ when I go a by-by maybe
Mamma’ll take her baby, too
Her baby, too, her baby, too
Oh, if I had my way
Through life babe, every day
There’d be a wonderful sun a beamin’
An’ wonderful days of dreamin’, too
Sweet babe for you
Hush, now an’ rock-a-bye my baby
Sleep my honey baby do
Oh, baby do, oh, baby do
Don’t cry an’ we’ll go by-by maybe
Hush-a-by my baby do, oh, baby do
Through life you’re all I’ve got to try for
To live an’ die for
An’ if I had to choose
I would stay just this way
With rock-a-bye baby blues”
Sung here by Fred Feild: