Comments on: “Here Comes the Sandman” song origins revealed.

By: Anne Blair

Anne Blair — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 02:07:17 +0000

My mother died when I was very young, but my aunts sung this same song to me! It was the exact same lyrics, minus the second verse. My mother’s from the Montgomery, AL area, but a lot of her family is from Pennsylvania.

I’ve always wanted to do more research on the song - thanks so much! I still sing it to my two children

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:14:16 +0000

I’m delighted to find the words to Are you there, Mr. Bear? My Gran (very theatrical) used to sing it when I was young but I know that I have misremembered the bit of the song I remember the words to. She lived to 103 but during all her later years I couldn’t really make out the melody, bless her, and would LOVE to know how it really goes, not my misremembered version (which I’m very fond of nevertheless. She sang Hello, Hello, Hello Susie Green and Daddy Long Legs too. Happy New Year! I think she had sandman song too but I remember it less than the others.

By: Janis Warne

Janis Warne — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:00:58 +0000

To the people asking about the Mr. Bear song–Our Nana (from Leeds, England, who moved to Canada after WWI when she married my Grandfather) and our mother used to sing it to my sisters and me: here are the lyrics (we have a recording of our grandmother playing the piano and singing it):

Daddy clicks the light off as he takes me up to bed
And he kisses me before he goes
And he says an angel lady watches me while I sleep
But do you think the angel knows?
That every night when Daddy goes and shuts his the study door
There’s a squeaky little noise upon the stairs
And I shiver in my byes as I close my baby eyes
in fright because I might see a bear

Are you there? Mr Bear?
Don’t you dare to take a bite of me
For I shall scream and very quick
My Papa will fetch a stick
For he’s not afraid of bears, not he
But if you want another baby girl
And you’re hungry and you can’t wait any more..
I can tell you where there’s plenty,
Go and try at number 20
Go and bite the little girly next door!
Go and bite the little girl next door.

Daddy couldn’t do without his little baby girl
And he wouldn’t give me up to you
But the Jones’s, they’re next door,
They’re our neighbours
they have four
little girlys and a rabbit or two
and Freddie Jones, their brother,
always teases me and says
I’m a silly and I didn’t ought to cry
But Freddie Jones has got a little night light by his cot
for he might be afraid of a bear
(refrain) Are you there, Mr. Bear…

I would like to know about the history of this song and some of the others Nana used to sing, like “Christopher Robins is saying his prayers,” and “The Goblins’ (will get you if you don’t watch out)” I’ve heard that Melanie wrote CR, but as Nana used to sing it to us when we were very young, in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, I think it is older than that. Does anyone out there know about these songs?

Janis

By: alison atkinson

alison atkinson — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:53:37 +0000

hia prue,my mum sang this to me when i was small,i sang it to my children,and i now sing it to my granddaughter she loves it and falls asleep on my knee when i sing all my childhood songs to her,im 54 and still singing them,you cant beat the oldies xx

By: Dvaid Whitton

Dvaid Whitton — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:35:05 +0000

The Mr. Bear song is on an LP I have of Victorian and Edwardian songs sung by Benjamin Luxon called “Break the News to Mother”. The album is ARGO ZK42 (part of the Decca company.) I believe this may have been transferred to CD but I don’t have the details.
DW

By: Prue Peters

Prue Peters — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:04:32 +0000

Hi this is a message for Alfie - I was sung the4 ‘bear song’ as a kid and remember the words as follows:-

When Daddy Ticks the light off and he tucks me into bed
He kisses me before he goes
He leaves an angel guarding his darling while she sleeps
But do you think the angel know?:
That every night when Daddy’s gone and banged the study door
There’s a creepy little noise behind the stairs
Whoooooo
Are you there? Mr Bear?
Don’t you dare to take a bit off me
For I shall scream out very quick
My Papa will fetch a stick
For he’s not afraid of bears, not he
But if you want a little baby girl
And you’re hungry and you can’t find any more..
I can tell you where there’s plenty,
Go and try at number 20
Go and bit the little girl next door!

Does anyone else remember it like this??
Prue

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:15:17 +0000

Sorry, “You’re”

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:14:25 +0000

Alfie, I loved that song when I was little, too! I only remember pieces of the words now though…
“So if you want a little baby girl,
if your hungry and you can’t wait anymore,
…………………….
Go and bite the little girl next door!”

By: Carol Dickey

Carol Dickey — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:44:57 +0000

It’s great to have found people who heard this lullaby as children and have passed it along. Like many others, I thought that the song was familiar only to our family. The lyrics my mother sang were changed from the original, but only a bit. I had thought that I would need to write the lyrics and the tune down, so that it wouldn’t be lost. Thanks so much to everyone who has added what they know about the song.

By: Barbara Davis

Barbara Davis — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:23:05 +0000

I am so delighted to see so many others who have heard of this lullaby and were as affected by it and I was. I have been trying to find the origin of this lullabye for years. I am originally from Ohio and was born in 1945. My grandmother was Irish and I had assumed that it was an Irish lullaby. My mother sang this to me and to my children and I picked it up and have sung it to both my children and grandchildren. I found that it was just as soothing to me while singing it in the middle of the night as it was to my children! It has the same tune as the recording bythe elderly man, but the version we sing is:

Go to sleep my baby.
Close your sleepy eyes.
The lady moon is watching from out the darkening skies.
The little stars are peeping to see if you are sleeping.
So go to sleep my baby. Close your sleepy eyes.

Here comes the sandman, stepping so lightly.
Walking along on the tips of his toes.
And he sprinkles the sand
With his own little hand
in the eyes of the sleeping children.