“Here Comes the Sandman” song origins revealed.
| I had a great response an article I published on a the origin of a lullaby called “The Sandman”. It seems that this song has been kept alive for over 100 years by parents singing it to their children from generation to generation. This song is well known in my family and we have always wondered where it came from or who wrote it. It also seems that my family was not alone. Families from all over the English speaking world have also been keeping this song alive, including New Zealand, Scotland, England, USA and Canada. Many of them have also searching for the origin of this song. |  |
You can read their stories and see the lyrics of their versions at this link:
My father found the first evidence of the true origin of this song on a kid’s music chat site. There we discovered that the song could have been written my one Lucine French in 1899 but we needed confirmation. That is where my Aunt Margaret came into the story and here is her saga:
This lullaby was sung to my mother, (born in 1909 in London, England, before my grandparents came to the USA, and then Canada) and her sisters by my grandmother. My mother sang it to my siblings and me, and they sang it to their children, who are now grown-up, and they sing it to their children. We never knew where it came from. At one time one of my maternal aunts said she would write one of the “home and country” in the UK to see whether anyone recognized it, but she never did write.
In 2006 I e-mailed my siblings and maternal cousins to see whether any of them knew where it came from. My brother-in-law picked this e-mail up, and he traced the song to a web-site, which attributed the song to Lucine Finch, a Birmingham, Alabama children’s writer,who had copyrighted the song in 1899. The original words found by my brother-in-law differed a little from the words we were using- not surprising that the words had drifted a little over the almost 100 years the song had been in our family.
Because the song had originated in the USA, I went to the web-site of the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. and asked whether they could find the song. After several weeks, a music specialist in the music division of the Library Congress located the song in a book by Poulsson, Emile: HOLIDAY SONGS AND EVERYDAY SONGS AND GAMES (1901), photocopied the music with all the words (we knew only the first verse) and mailed it to me.
I was very impressed that she was able to track this sheet music down and now we could finally see how the song was originally written. Our family had omitted the second verse and added many beats to various points in the melody but the notes in the melody were almost all the same.
Here is the original text:
The Sandman by Lucine Finch 1899
Here comes the Sandman stepping so lightly,
Stealing along on the tips of his toes;
And he scatters the sand With his own little hand.
In the eyes of the sleepy children.
Oh! hear the Sandman singing so softly.
Singing the children to sleep everywhere.
See how drowsy they grow;
Tired heads drooping low,
And hear the sandman singing.
Go to sleep my children, close your sleepy eyes.
The lady moon is watching from out the dark’ning skies.
The little stars are peeping to see if you are sleeping.
Go to sleep my children.
Go to sleep goodnight.
So there it is the original text. I have recorded a new version of the song which I will be releasing on a reissue of my cd called “Elephants Have Wrinkles”. My brother-in-law Alan Gasser who is a lyric tenor sings the melody and I play the guitar. I think it is a lovely rendering of the song. I’ll make a post here when it is out.
If you would like to see the music you can download it from this link:
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 9:00 am and is filed under Childrens' Music, General, Song Origins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
27 Responses to ““Here Comes the Sandman” song origins revealed.”
Hey Mike,
this is so cool, I didn’t think anybody in Canda new about this song.
my mum use to sing this number to us when we were babies, and now I’m singing it to Lily.
Actually my mum has many great songs and lullaby’s all stemming for that time era, they are so fun to sing to the kids. “are you there mr. bear?” is very good and if I find all the lyrics I will forward it to you, (mum can only remember a few of the verses).
Claire
Claire
Wow I’m amazed by how many people are connected to this song. So cool that I know you outside of cyberspace and you know the song too!!
Were your words the same as the original?
Can anyone find this sheet music somewhere? I would love to have it and frame it! This is just HUGE that y’all have located this information. My grandmother used to sing this song to us — slightly offkey and always forgetting some of the words — but, nevertheless, gently rocking against her soft skin in the sticky, sultry heat of those New Orleans summer nights. An infinitely loving woman, she suffered a terribly debilitating stroke in November of 1992 at the age of 80, only 3 1/2 months after her first great-grandchild was borne. The stroke left her blind and sickly — she tried to sing this to Baby Alden in December of 1992, but couldn’t remember it, tears streaming down her face as she struggled for the words and notes. She died only weeks later in January of 1993, and the song has been lost to all of us ever since. Now, there are 8 great-grandchildren, ranging from ages 14 to 3 and I will be delighted to relearn this song and rock my own babies to it.
Katherine,
Thanks for sharing your history with this song. What a touching story. I assume you want a clearer version of the music than the one I posted here:
http://www.rainbowsongs.com/sheetmusic/sandman.pdf
I had a look for the book by Emile Poulsson, and titled HOLIDAY SONGS AND EVERYDAY SONGS AND GAMES (1901) where this song is printed at abebooks:
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?tn=holiday&sts=t&an=poulsson&y=0&x=0
Looks like the same book the can be purchased used. I hope this helps.
(Looks like the same book the can be purchased used.)
Kinda hard to purchase it new.. (!!)
Hi Mike - wayne from Oz here…. lovely juxtaposition from my prior experiences of your musicality (Brass Bikini et el - still one of my top 20 all-time CDs!) through to ethnic-folk to home town nostalgia…. gets even more surreal as I’m currently coding listening to DIG jazz (ABC oz on the web - check it out!!! with a bebop outfit playing Nirvana’s main hit (called?!! my libido…?? Teen Spirit!! ah…) at 4am b4 work-day. Hm Only thing I can add - self; anglo/oz background, no knowlege of sandman…:(
No matter, just what I know.
All the best! W.
PS Band (DIG-above) was called “The Bad Plus”, 2003, album:These Are The Vistas. I googled…awesome.
PPS My daughter’s just (JAN!!) turned 13 - was it that long since our world intersected?!!
PPPS Havn’t had the time 2look @ melb muso 4 a while; draw no conclusions.
Wayne
Great to hear from you!! Are you still playing sax or just coding these days?
I’ve heard a lot of versions of “Teen spirit”. Have you heard Tori Amos do it?
I’m so glad you found this and posted it. I’ve searched the web many times for this song with no luck.
My 94 year old grandmother in Wisconsin said her mom sang this song to her, and she sang it to my mom, who sang it to my sisters and I, and now I sing it to my kids (although my son says its kind of spooky) Now in Seattle. Never met anyone who knew this song…
We had lost the middle verse too… and its a tricky melody
Our version;
The sandman is coming, he is drifting so lightly
he is stealing a long on the tips of his toes
and he scatters the sand, with his own little hand
in the eyes of the sleeping children
Go to sleep my children, rest your weary eyes,
the lady moon is watching, in the starry skies
the little stars are peep-ing, to see if you are sleep-ing
go to sleep my children, go to sleep, goodnight.
Linda
Thanks for stopping by. Your words are almost the same.
I agree with your son that there is something spooky about the song. . . . something brothers grim . . .
Wow, this is great what you’ve done to get history from all the people related to this song. I was searching for this song because my father, age 93, remembered performing in a play of which he doesn’t remember the name, all the families participated in it and the children were acting out the song. They walked with their pillows in hand singing and then at the end of the song they all got to have a pillow fight (on stage). He said this gentleman who created the play with this song in it, and others of kids older doing other tunes took the show to cities across the country and helped the cities raise money. The people who performed in his play would always be people from that city. Dad sang the words to me similar to what all are stating. There was another tune he mentioned called “The Dream Train”. Anyway, great info on your site. I’ll read some to my Dad who by the way, is an old Vaudevillian performer and entertained as one of the Mercer Brothers all his life (over 70yrs) until his brother passed away in 2003. Dad’s written a book about it you can see at http://www.budmercer.com - I’m really proud of him. Thanks to all for your blogs about this song. Maybe my Dad can give me more details of his experience after I read this all to him and we’ll share more. -Lin
Lin
Thanks for your story. Please if your dad has any more to offer about this song or anything else share it with us!!
I am looking for a different version of the Sandman a song my
>mother sang to me and my granddaughter loves. However, I cannot
>find the words anywhee.
>
It begins
>
>”Now see the little sandman
>at the window raise his head
>And look for all good children
>who ought to bee in bed.
>And as he closes
>sleepy eyes…….
>
>This is all I remember Has anyone heard
>this version? Thanks, Lida
hi
it was really great to get the propper words. I live in Cape Town and my gran used to sing it to us. i now sing it to my kids along with the Chritopher Robbin prayer
Hi the words I used to sing for the sandman lullaby at school were;
The sandman lives by the shadow hill, where the river of dreams runs dark and still, and he goes to the shore his sacks to fill,Hey Ho for the sandman.Sleep tight, slumber light, pleasant visions be yours tonight, close your eyes till the red sun rise, so says the sandman.( Do you know a lullabye sung to the Brahms lulaby tune? some words: Slumber sweetly my dear for angels are near to watch over you, the silent night through, —— till the dawn breaketh through to awaken you? Thanks
Is the name Lucine Finch or Lucine French. I noticed both in your description. The sheet music you have above is too small for me to make out the name. Could you please clarify?
It is Finch. I fixed the typo. Sorry about that.
Oh my gosh I can’t even believe this!!! i have a Grandmother who is 98 years old, she’s not doing very well. We do believe her time is coming. She used to sing this song to my kids when they were younger. They would spend the night with her, sleep in the same bed, talk for hours on end and than she would sing this sweet song to them. This song has touched my childrens lives,by there Grandmother bringing it to life. I am so excited I found the lyrics. Thank YOU!!!!!
Another Sand man lullaby, does anybody know its origin?
Here’s how it goes. I learnt this in primary school some twenty
years back. Thanks.
——————
Sandman
My very good friend the sandman
visits me every night
He smiles and he says hello to me
When mummy turns down the light
My very good friend the sandman
Carries a shiny pale
a pale full of the magic sand
That comes from a brook on a hush-a-by trail
When I get drooowsy
He tells me to close my eyes
While he and the evening breeze
Saaay goooooood niiiiight.
My grandfather used to sing this one to my mother, and my mother to me. Of course, over the years, apparently, most of the lyrics have changed. My wife and I now sing a modified version to our little boy. Mostly we just hum the melody, but some improved lines have seemed to stick with us during our daily/nightly ritual.
Here comes the Sandman
Walking so softly.
He moves around on the tips of his toes
And he sprinkles the sand
With a wave of his hand
In the eyes of sleepy children.
Go to sleep my baby.
Close those sleepy eyes.
The little lambs are all sleeping
Beneath the starry skies.
Go to sleep my baby.
Close your little eyes.
The kitties all are wondering
If you will soon be slumbering.
Go to sleep, my baby.
Close your sleepy eyes.
~~~ and if that doesn’t do it, we add …
Go to sleep, my baby.
Rest your weary head.
The little baby puppies
have all climbed into bed.
Go to Sleep my baby.
Close your tired eyes.
The little birds are peeping
To see if you are sleeping.
Go to sleep my baby.
Go to sleep, goodnight.
~
My wife and I have a good time finding ways to switch around the animals (little lambs, puppies, kitties, uh… baby alligators? whatever fits the meter.) Thanks a TON for sharing this. It was a pleasure reading of this great lullaby’s origin.
My Grandmom sang this song to us when we were little and would sleep over her house. She had routine she would do with it. All 13 of grandchildren loved it. She never knew where it came from.
Here comes the sandman
Stepping so lightly
On the tips of his toes
He gather the sand with is own little hands
For the eyes of the sleepy children.
So go to sleep my baby close your pretty eyes
The lady moon is watching you from out the dark blue sky
The little birds are peeping to see if you are sleeping
So go to sleepy by baby.
My grandfather sang this song to my father who taught it to my mother who sang it to us. Now as a grandfather myself I sing it to my grandson.
We are late coming to your blog, but we are so excited that you have found the origin of the Sandman lullaby! My mother used to sing us to sleep in our tent while camping, so I guess the other campers got to benefit from her pure soprano. I can’t do it justice, but I sing it to my children also.
Message to Uziboy:
I’ve also been looking for the origin of the version of Sandman Lullaby you mentioned. More than 20 years ago, I had a tape and music sheets with that song and other lullabies called “Lullabies by Grandpa Spy”. I still sing those lullabies, and love them. There’s a slim chance I may still have the music sheets, but it would take a lot of searching at my parent’s house. If you happen to see this and are still interested, let me know…
Message to Uziboy:
Correction, it was lullabies by Grandpa Sy. Also the music was by Jill Jackson.
I’m just getting ready to send a newly compiled and color illustrated children’s song book called SING TO ME to the printer with this Sandman song in it. I’m glad I located the exact original words and author information in time to include it.
This song is also in a school songbook called Merry Melodies, available from Prairie View Press, Grenta, Manitoba. (pvp@mts.net) I’d be glad to post a copy of the sheet music I have, which contains the melody (or soprano) line only. Please email with instructions for posting the PDF file if you are interested.
Or the above mentioned printing press would, for a small fee, set the entire original music you have posted into a new clear copy.
Hi
I was thrilled to find this Blog and to learn that others know about the Sandman and are passing it down to their children. My grandmother sang it to me and my sisters and we have passed it down to our children. My grandmother told me that her teacher taught the song to her class (one room school in a tiny hamlet north of Kingston, Ontario) when it was time for the children to have a rest and put their heads down at their desks. The teacher would sing the song and choose one child to be “the Sandman” and tiptoe around and pretend to sprinkle sand into the children’s eyes.
It is magical.
Janice
Wow! This is incredible! My mom sent me this link because my grandfather used to sing this song to me all the time when I was little, and she did too (of course). Now I have my first born and I started singing it to him while he was in the womb, and it really soothes him. We, too, sing it a bit different, and I’m looking forward to downloading and checking out the sheet music!
Here comes the sandman, stepping so softly
)
Stealing along on the tips of his toes
And he scatters the sand with his own little hand
in the eyes of sleepy children
Go to sleep, my baby Close your sleepy eyes
The lady moon is watching from out the darkened skies
The little stars are peaping to see if you are sleeping
Go to sleep, my baby Close your eyes Goodnight.
(or we would substitute “children” or “baby” for the name of the child being sung to… I always liked hearing my name in it
It sometimes brings a tear to my eyes when I think back and recall my grandfather and I lying down to take naps and he would sing this song to me. Or my mom comforting me and helping me get to sleep at night.
I am from NJ, USA by the way
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