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During the Medieval and early modern period, it is likely many lullabies we know, such as Rock a Bye Baby and Highland Fairy Lullaby developed. Interestingly, many themes we see in the earliest lullabies remained. As with early societies, fear of the dark and its potential evils on a child seem to prevail in the words of most lullabies. The songs themselves are soothing but lyrics regarding danger, death, and even babies being stolen by thieves are common lyrics in not only the lullabies we know but also those that have been recovered from historical texts. The origin of lullabies such as Rock a Bye Baby are generally unknown; one theory has been that the lullaby originated from observations of Native Americans using tree branches to suspend cradles from. So the fear of branches breaking and a baby falling from a tree is possibly reflected by this observation.
Cross cultural comparisons of lullabies also indicates a fear of the dark and unknown is a common theme in lullabies. For instance, in Iceland Bíum Bíum Bambaló, sung recently by an Icelandic band, is a terrifying lullaby about a face lurking outside and looking at the window. Fear of what is waiting for baby and with the baby possibly taken if the baby goes outside. Even in the New World, lullabies developed to be menacing in their lyrics. For instance, Dodo Titit is a Carribean lullaby that talks about a crab eating a baby. In Brazil, the lullaby Nana Nenê is about an alligator named Cuca that might get the baby if he or she stays noisy or cries.
==The Modern Lullaby==
