Mother's Day Special Feature: 'Lullaby'
WATCH; A lullaby is a soothing song typically sung to children to help them fall asleep. It often has gentle melodies and comforting lyrics that nurture a deeper bond between parent and child.
But as modern moms use digital methods for bedtime routines and personal bonding with their child, do these timeless tunes still have a place and remain in practice in the digital age?
WATCH; A lullaby is a soothing song typically sung to children to help them fall asleep. It often has gentle melodies and comforting lyrics that nurture a deeper bond between parent and child.
But as modern moms use digital methods for bedtime routines and personal bonding with their child, do these timeless tunes still have a place and remain in practice in the digital age?
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00:00 [Singing]
00:17 [Foreign Language]
00:33 [Foreign Language]
00:48 [Music]
00:54 [Foreign Language]
01:22 [Foreign Language]
01:34 [Foreign Language]
01:54 [Foreign Language]
02:08 [Foreign Language]
02:32 So, the question on the origin of the lullaby can be answered from various points,
02:38 but I can answer it now from a biocultural point of view.
02:43 When we say biocultural, it's a mixture of nature and culture, or biology and culture.
02:49 In this point of view, lullaby would be a natural instinct.
02:54 It would be one of the natural selection pressures
02:58 that enabled us to persist through millions of years.
03:02 But when we say Homo sapiens, then that would be around 200 years ago.
03:07 Presumably, human beings were already singing to their infants and children,
03:16 so they were able to adapt to the environment, meaning the species did not die out.
03:22 It continued on through time because there was this practice that helped them adapt to the environment and reproduce through time.
03:32 So, a lullaby, if it's taken as a natural instinct,
03:36 it's a way by which we are able to take care of the weak and the vulnerable
03:43 so that they will develop later on into a fully human being.
03:47 So, I'm answering it that the origin is not from a place, but it's part of our biology.
03:54 It's part of our instinct to protect our offspring so that the offspring will survive.
04:02 It's a cultural practice that helps us survive as a species.
04:06 Filipinos are very sociable beings, meaning we like to be with others all the time.
04:12 Since our society values sociability, our cultural value to work with others, to live with others,
04:20 then by singing to an infant, we are already teaching them how to be incorporated, how to live in a community.
04:28 Community being at the lowest level, meaning family, then to the neighborhood, then to the larger community.
04:36 For me, it's important because just like me now, my parents raised me well.
04:42 So, I didn't see anything ineffective or my parents' guidance was good for me.
04:53 That's why I'm giving it to my baby now.
04:56 Meaning, whatever I've learned before, it's okay, so I'm applying it to my baby.
05:03 Which is like the singing, the lullabies.
05:07 Actually for me, the lullaby, the way I put my baby to sleep through music,
05:12 it's not just about putting him to sleep, but the time you're together, you're together,
05:18 it's instilled in him and then when he grows up, he remembers it.
05:22 Because personally, that's what I think of every time I sing to my baby.
05:27 So, I think of the memories of my parents and my mom.
05:32 If it's able to fulfill the purpose of letting a baby to sleep,
05:36 then a digital recording might be able to soothe the baby and the baby will sleep.
05:41 But of course, it's always better to have the organic, the body of the mother singing to an infant or a child.
05:50 I don't emphasize one over the other.
05:53 As long as it serves its purpose for bonding, then that's okay.
05:58 But again, there would be a problem if the world is so technologized
06:03 that there's no longer the organic human interactions.
06:09 And then maybe, the quality of bonding will degrade because of too much technology.
06:16 [Music]
06:36 [Music]
06:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]