All the Pretty Little Horses (w/lyrics)

[Wawajohns]

What's creepy and cool is that I just noticed the suncatcher hanging on my window is tapping the window to the beat to this song. :O eerie.

[wowgirl225]

Never thought i could cry from a song. :'( so touching

[tinkeranime]

my choir is going to sing this song

[hetaliaamericalove]

im about to cry!!!

[blackwillow27]

we have to sing this song for chorus, and i wonder if mr. walker knows why this song was written.. if not.... im gonna tell him. >:D

[22egurl]

I remember being little (under 6) and going to sleep and my parents would play this on a casete tape. Now I'm 12 and I still love this song. I get real real happy when we act out 'a christmas carol' and the little girl sings this then I tell then how it goes when they don't know.

[kooltwilightgurl123]

my choir instructor is making me and my friend sing this for a solo and ensemble competition and i like it!!!!

[technokittie1]

i sun this to my uncle the nigh died :'(

[Wawajohns]

@technokittie1 wow. that is really deep. thanks for sharing. It makes this song all the more touching.

[Frickdal]

It's Beatyfull soNg

[coolElsie]

thus is such a good song but i like the version by charlotte church better

[bubbasmomma1234]

this is off of the movie flicka

[whatsanenigma]

I was pretty shocked at first when I found out what the original lyrics were, but then I thought about all the children's things that are rather gruesome. Coventry Carol, Rock-a-bye-baby, even the way we sang "10 little monkeys" when I was a child..."One fell off and broke his head", while now they sing it as "bumped his head". I'm sure there are lots more examples, so we probably shouldn't be so surprised about what this song actually is.

[MsLadyKathleen]

I absolutely love this song......it makes me cry, though......part of the beauty of the song.

[thekeyboarddude]

3 people have no heart and neither a soul.

[nyerguds]

@thekeyboarddude Surely they must have misclicked :|

[tearsofblood3000]

This version reminds me of the song from Hocus Pocus sung by Sarah

[miyaah95]

@tearsofblood3000 Omg, thats why I looked up this song lol, I just got through watching the movie.

[Teszzxoxo]

i love her voice..

[TheAnimeLuvr]

Lolz I was listening to this on my bed and I fell asleep listening to it

[TravisEpick]

For more of Becky Jean Williams voice look up a group called "Late Night Alumni" and "The Mollies". She's lovely~!

[jaella08]

this song used to make me shut up immediately when I was a tiny little girl. Something about it...enchanting, haunting...

[MrNajjoula]

During the days of slavery in the United States (1619- 1865) Black "mammies", the second mothers of well-to-do white children, used to sing this lullaby to quiet the baby with promises of good things to come in its life ("all the pretty little horses"). In the second verse, the black woman is thinking about her own child, her "lambie" from whom she was separated. She knows that she cannot protect her child from life's dangers ( the bees and butterflies peckin' out its eyes").

[sparkleycupckes]

i love this song i sing it to my nephew and he goes to sleep every time but i like that its not just a made up song it has real meaning to it and i think thats very important in a lullaby. <3

[totalchristine]

my daddy used to sing this to me when i couldnt sleep because i have sleep problems. he thinks im to old to be sung to but i still kinda wish he did. i love horses which makes it even better :)

[SkyAndSeaGirl]

@1Anonymiss i haven't read that one, i found this song changed a bit in Inside My Mind. and ikr, fanfic intro'ed me to my favorite band. X)

[SkyAndSeaGirl]

*peaceful*

[SkyAndSeaGirl]

This brings back such pewceful memories, my momma used to sing me this when I was little, I remember going to bed with her singing it. :) and I had read the lyrics in a fanfiction, (Fanfic authors rule!) and I automatically sang it by a certain tune, and i confused myself by knowing the tune so I looked it up and it's exactly how I remember. :3

[1Anonymiss]

@SkyAndSeaGirl Me too! I read it in Wide Awake. Fanfic opened me up to so much music!

[DauwXelfje]

This is soo cute <3

[baggetcool]

whats the history of this song?

[shika2u]

@baggetcool It was originally sung by an African American slave who could not take care of her baby because she was too busy taking care of her master's child. She would therefore sing this song to her master's child. Originally, the lyrics were "birds and butterflies, peck at his eyes" but were changed to "birds and butterflies, flutter 'round his eyes" to make the lullaby less violent for younger children.

reference & true lyrics... wikipedia. under "All the Pretty Horses (lullaby)"

[hellrockz154]

Im singin this song in my choir as well.! :)

[PCAeagles1]

i am singing this in choir at school and i love singing with this video!!! :)

[xxmissunderstoodxx19]

we are singing this in our choir :D

[smalltowngurlsrule]

*this is raina smalltown gurls rule freind!* omg.. my first word was : ALL the prety little horses...

[milesbiddulph]

This song was performed by The Mollies, recorded by the amazing Scott Wiley for the Baby Mine album.

[littleL96]

hoho

[Kobalos]

I have just found out the meaning aswell, yes sends shiver down my spine but still a beautiful if somwhat haunting song :)

[Jalina98]

In My choir class were doing this for our concert and its an AMAZING song!! We gave it a kind of up-beat!:D

[MistressSlytherin]

Wow, just read about the story behind this song... So sad :( It does really give it a sort of haunting effect if you know the story behind it before listening for the first time. Nonetheless, this is a beautiful song.

[TheSmileyFaceMiss]

l'm singing this for my solo in choir...I love this lullaby

[nanook601]

@TheSmileyFaceMiss Same here(:

[SuperCutenails]

<3

[ladygaga19ify]

it has a haunting theme 2 it

but it sounds sweet

and really good

[neroscathinka]

the song was created by a black woman who had to look after her master's child, while her own child died from neglect. she would sing this to the master's white child. the little baby crying for its mommy is obviously her own dead/dying child. the original had the lyric "birds and butterflies, peck at his eyes", but it had to be changed to the less violent version...for the kids and all.

it's so beautiful, but so sad..

[snaildragon]

@neroscathinka I had a book that had the music for the earlier version, along with a bunch of other old traditional songs.

[MsBehaved666]

@neroscathinka i don't believe that is the meaning of the song (you quoted wikepedia)

[neroscathinka]

@MsBehaved666 if you think so, idc

[tinkeranime]

@neroscathinka peck at his eyes wtf

[MegaOMGG]

Were playing this in band for the next concert......only im the only one who knows this song in my band :/

[broisin1]

it was originally sung by an african american slave in the southern states. her own child died of neglect because she was too busy looking after her masters child. this is the song she sung to the masters child to make it fall asleep.

[Lsumba97]

i think this has someting to do with a story in the Old Testament of the Bible. Abraham sent away a slave and her son, and they ran out of water along the way... she sat next to her crying baby about to die of thirst, the baby was saying "Momma", when an angel came and gave them a drink...

[bluelover404]

does anyone know where I can download this song for free?! I can't find it anywhere! ><

[xfeverfli]

@bluelover404 frostwire

[roxy800qpunk]

this reminds me when i sung the same day my sister died .... she was 13

[puffpufflollipop1021]

@roxy800qpunk omg im so sorry but how did she pass away if u dont mind me asking

[roxy800qpunk]

@puffpufflollipop1021 murderd

[roxy800qpunk]

@puffpufflollipop1021 she was kidnaped and shot/stabbed to death :'(

[JaDangerz]

@roxy800qpunk my prayers to you and your family, i am so sorry about your loss. I too had lost a dear friend who was murdered in a shooting at a mall, she was my age :'(

[pandaaa911]

this makes me think of my sister=/

[puffpufflollipop1021]

@pandaaa911 is she ok?

[pandaaa911]

@puffpufflollipop1021 no, she past:(

[pinkee66]

I remember my Daddy singing tis to me when I was a little girl. It means a lot to me

[pinkartoon]

love this song <3

[pandaaa911]

Sad but amazing song..sometimes makes me cry when I hear it.

[elysenoland]

Abbiegirlowner530 how is this about slaves?

[SouthernChild6]

my mama used to sing this to me when i was lil..idk why but back then it always used to make me cry. I lvoe this song. &im plannin on singin it to my lil babies(=

[iloveit4ever]

Whats beautiful about leaving your own baby by force to go and take care of your masters white baby? Neglecting yours for your job..and the real lyric is birds and butterflies peck his eyes..her child dies..it makes the song almost morbid..it is beautiful..but tragic when you know the meaning to it all. She could have sang to her baby..

[Abbiegirlowner530]

@iloveit4ever she's singing her pain to the baby she has to take care of instead of the one she cant, i think those slaves grow to love the babies they have to take care of as well as the ones that they couldnt. she's almost explaining to the child what she went through to be able to support it

[MaizoonIRen]

@iloveit4ever Most of the older lullabies like this are pretty morbid in meaning.

I mean, Ring Around the Rosies was about the Black Plague and a lot of old gospels are about slave life or secret messages concerning the Underground Railroad. Even classic books are morbid; Uncle Tom's Cabin, even Alice in Wonderland (if you know the history of the author).

It's not uncommon for old songs and stories like these to have some pretty horrendous backstories.

[iSongLover]

I like the lullaby hummings and instrumental music with it. It fits in with the song.

[lolemj]

no one sing it better than her :)

[hjp36907]

im glad i now know the history behind this song. thank you. it makes it even more meaningful and powerful. ♥ it

[patanijas]

I use to sing this to my youngest son when he was a baby.

[QZMANUZIE]

I absolutely adore this song(: ♡

[Babidee93]

i lovee this song:)

[RushingKC]

Does anyone have the mp3 to this? I would greatly appreciate it.

[ilovedawsontv]

i love this song :D

[kiweeeed]

thank you for this beautiful song

[Abbiegirlowner530]

well wat i heard was that the slaves that just had babies wud sometimes be sent to care for the master's baby if it had just been born and then other slaves wud have to care for the slave's baby that she couldn't take with her and they would have to set the baby down in the fields and move on because if they didn't have the baby they didn't get work off from the fields

[Abbiegirlowner530]

and so the song was for the white babies from the black slave but some parts are directed to the child they had to leave behind like "way down yonder in the meadow poor little baby cryin' mamma"

[kittyfacegirl]

but what does that have to do with horses and sleeping?? i think its a beautiful melody and song!! i hope its not about lsaves cuz that would ruin it... :(

[Abbiegirlowner530]

well it's about slaves but i think that just makes it more beautiful because it has a story behind it, it's not just something someone made up

[eclipselover1918]

@Abbiegirlowner530 really?about slaves? can u explain it me? it sounds interesting!

[Abbiegirlowner530]

@eclipselover1918 back when it was written white masters's wives wud take black slaves that had just had babies and use them as wet nurses, so they wud move into the master's house for awhile, but the baby they had wud have to be taken care of by family members or friends, but the friend's wouldnt get maternity leave so they had to take the babies out into the field but they couldnt take them everyone so more often then not the babies got left in fields because of it, thats the story

[elysenoland]

@Abbiegirlowner530 how is this about slaves

[Abbiegirlowner530]

@elysenoland back when it was written white masters's wives wud take black slaves that had just had babies and use them as wet nurses, so they wud move into the master's house for awhile, but the baby they had wud have to be taken care of by family members or friends, but the friend's wouldnt get maternity leave so they had to take the babies out into the field but they couldnt take them everyone so more often then not the babies got left in fields because of it, thats the story

[TeamSwizzerland]

@Abbiegirlowner530 its not about slaves..it was actually sung by a black slave owners child cause he had a nightmare... i dont mean to be raceist...its not ment to be its just the history:)

[Grotegruttennogantoe]

@Abbiegirlowner530 If I listen to these lyrics it seems to me that this is written as an interpretation of Christianity... Go to sleep little baby, when you wake you shall have all the pretty little horses (live your life devoid of reality, later there will be heaven) Way down yonder lies etc (your true essence crying out) Rest your head upon the clover (comfortably rest on a beautiful story) Whilst your mammy's watching over (God) This is why current 93 sang it

[tsphilly98]

@Abbiegirlowner530 Well it's about A slave... she was separated from her baby because she spent so much time caring for her master's daughter. She used to sing the master's daughter to sleep with this song that she wrote.

[yeshajoanna]

awesome,,, love this

[RikaNamida]

I sing this to my daughterr

[RikaNamida]

^_^