History Main / RousingLullaby

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' At the end of [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E11PartsTheClonusHorror "Parts: The Clonus Horror"]], after a long day of supervising a trio of rowdy, omnipotent Space Children, Pearl Forrester has finally convinced the Space Kids to go to bed. Tom Servo offers to read a soothing poem to help them fall asleep--then to accompany his poem, he plays some ''loud oompah band music''. Naturally, this wakes the Space Kids right up, which was Servo's goal in the first place.

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* ''Series/SesameStreet'':
** In Episode 0708, David and Gordon try to get a baby to sleep by making faces and silly noises, but these don't work. S.A.M. the Robot arrives and sings "Lullaby of Machine Land", a lullaby typically sung to different types of machines; those listed in the song including four-slice toasters, chicken roasters, commuter trains, and fire engines. In between verses, S.A.M. adds some loud beeping and ends the lullaby with several blasts from his smokestack. Despite all the noise, it manages to work on the human baby after all, as well as David and Gordon.
** One episode had Ricky Gervais sing Elmo "the N Song", which was generally a relaxing song on an accoustic guitar until the refrain, when it switches to a loud electric guitar and Ricky loudly sings "N goes NA NA NA, NA NA NANA NA NA..."
** In another, Oscar is [[BabysittingEpisode babysitting baby Natasha]], he tries to sing her a lullaby, but finds it boring, so he sings it quickly. Natasha doesn't fall asleep, but she doesn't seem too bothered by the song.

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* ''Music/TomLehrer'' sings ''The MLF Lullaby,'' wich is more likely to keep you up despite its gentle piano melody because the MLF (Multi-Lateral Force) concept entailed giving Germany access to the nuclear button scant years after they lost UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo and might still hold a grudge.

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* ''Series/SesameStreet'':
** One episode had Ricky Gervais sing Elmo "the N Song", which was generally a relaxing song on an accoustic guitar until the refrain, when it switches to a loud electric guitar and Ricky loudly sings "N goes NA NA NA, NA NA NANA NA NA..."
** In another, Oscar is [[BabysittingEpisode babysitting baby Natasha]], he tries to sing her a lullaby, but finds it boring, so he sings it quickly. Natasha doesn't fall asleep, but she doesn't seem too bothered by the song.

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-->--'''Music/NinjaSexParty,''' ''It's Bedtime''

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* The ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' book ''Loamhedge'' has a variation. Flinky sings "Vermin Lullaby," a mostly standard lullaby, to Badredd, a BrattyHalfPint villain in the team. When Badredd is asleep, Flinky sings the lullaby again, but this time to no one in particular. In this version, the lyrics are [[DarkReprise altered]] to be about how Flinky hates Badredd so much that he wishes Badredd would die in his sleep and have his corpse eaten by ants and flies.
* Subverted in the ''Series/SesameStreet'' book "Elmo's Good Night Stories". Elmo's mother sings him a bedtime song during the chapter "Elmo's Lullaby". The next day, Elmo wants to sing it to his friends, but he can't remember the lyrics or the tune, so he loudly sings about shaking your fingers and your toes. Ernie even notes that it's more of an energetic song than a lullaby.

** In another, [[GrumpyBear Oscar]] is [[BabysittingEpisode babysitting baby Natasha]], he tries to sing her a lullaby, but finds it boring, so he sings it quickly. Natasha doesn't fall asleep, but she doesn't seem too bothered by the song.

Ah, the lullaby. A soothing song sung by a loved one to a child to soothe them off to Dreamland. If that kid's a wuss. In its most basic form, this kind of lullaby is loud, proud, and informs the child (and both neighbors) that it is now time to sleep, and they'll git got by the ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight if they don't. In other forms, a Rousing Lullaby is likely to keep the child awake through loud volume, energetic tempo, or frightening subject matter, but is nevertheless presented as soothing to the listener.

See also LyricalDissonance, which is a song that has lyrics at-odds with the melody. Compare IronicNurseryRhyme, which is another kind of song that inspires terror rather than comfort; OminousMusicBoxTune, where a music box (an instrument commonly used for lullabies) is played for creepy effect, and IsntItIronic, where a song is chosen more for melody than lyrics. A form of Situational {{Irony}} - A lullaby is meant to be, well, lulling, and these songs are very much not.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E17StareMaster Stare Master]],'' Sweetie Belle sings such a lullaby. It's soft and gentle when Fluttershy sings it, but Sweetie sings it at the top of her lungs with [[MusicalWorldHypothesis inexplicable swing music accompaniment.]]

Ah, the lullaby. A soothing song sung by a loved one to a child to soothe them off to Dreamland. If that kid's a wuss. In it's most basic form, this kind of lullaby is loud, proud, and informs the child (and both neighbors) that it is now time to sleep, and they'll git got by the ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight if they don't. In other forms, a Rousing Lullaby is likely to keep the child awake through loud volume, energetic tempo, or frightening subject matter, but is nevertheless presented as soothing to the listener.

* ''Series/{{Bizaardvark}}'' parodies this in one episode as "The Worst Lullaby Ever".

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': In the WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail "bedtime story", The Cheat is scared into insomnia a "shock-u-mentary" about gingivitis, so Strong Bad and Strong Mad have to think of oddly specific ways to comfort him to sleep. One of these is a "lullaby" where Strong Mad revs up a chainsaw and Strong Bad yells the lyrics to a non-sequitur rhyme over it.
-->'''Strong Bad:''' ''Bran muffins!\\
Where are you, stupid bran muffin?!\\

-->''"Let my army of demons rock you to sleep!''
-->''It's BEDTIME! It's fuckin' BEDTIME!''
-->''Have sweet dreams while I rev my Jeep!"''

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* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': After The Cheat gets recurring nightmares from a "shock-u-mentary" about gingivitis, Strong Bad and Strong Mad have to think of oddly specific ways to comfort him to sleep. One of these is a "lullaby" where Strong Mad revs up a chainsaw and Strong Bad yells the lyrics to a non-sequitor rhyme over it.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E17StareMaster Stare Master]],'' Sweetie Belle sings such a lullabye. It's soft and gentle when Fluttershy sings it, but Sweetie sings it at the top of her lungs with [[MusicalWorldHypothesis inexplicable swing music accompaniment.]]

* ''Music/{{Metallica}}'' has ''Enter Sandman,'' a metal song about falling asleep and having nightmares.

-->''"I see you're still awake for some reason. Was it the guitar solo? Was it the demons? Yeah, people have told us that before..."''


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