Rockabye Baby

Led Zeppelin rocks our baby to sleep at night. At least for a while, that was a key feature in her nightly bedtime ritual. Her primary song of slumber was "Thank You." Now, we only pull the Led out in emergencies. I had discovered Rockabye Baby , a site that sells rock music in lullaby form, even before Avi was born-- the search grew out of a foreboding fear that when a child eventually came into my life, I/Michael would be subjected to soulless, mindless, dribbling children's music that would turn me into a zombie. It really was a concern of mine. Hearing damage. Tone deafness. Audio terrorism. Brain leakage through the ear canal. But it shouldn't be so bad, 'cause now I can listen to dangerous, soul-filling music the whole family can enjoy! (and Radiohead will probably be Avi's next musical experience.) However, I should mention that the irony in my children's music phobia is that I improvise & sing baby songs to Avi on a daily basis. I've run the gamut of running away in horror from listening to children's music to actually creating children's music. A lot of children's music. We're talking volumes. In just the last few weeks. Not that I have much of a singing voice; I mean, I make Clay Aiken sound decent. But I got plenty of heart and I'm definitely Avi's number one vote. Half the time my musical arrangements are twisted rip-offs of the songs that gently flow out of her battery-powered baby chair-- imagine if you will, "twinkle twinkle little star" sung by a disoriented though overzealous Al Green with a sore throat. But my lyrics are original, and my performances are stellar. I may not be Led Zeppelin, but who the heck can be? So Avi, in a few years when you pick up a little guitar and magically start busting out Jimmy Page style riffs, you can thank me.