Lullabies are always meant to be sung almost to yourself – there is never anyone listening – there is never anyone tape recording – it is just you and your baby – and babies, to our minds, don’t count, because they can’t understand momma’s complex thoughts or words…

And this lullaby talks about momma goin’ away – to die? Or does that mean that the baby is going to die – ‘go to sleep’? Why does Mrs. Carter ‘correct’ herself after the first verse and sing momma’s goin’ away, but my daddy’s gonna stay… And what on earth does it mean that, “There ain’t nobody but the baby?…” It’s a lonely world – it’s the fears of death – it isn’t momma goin’ steppin’ with her red shoes on – it might, for all I know, even be a sacred lullaby – that the kid is dying, and momma is staying here, but daddy is waiting (‘abba’ from the bible)…

What it comes down to is that I’m not really offended by what they did to Mrs. Carter’s song, and in my kicked-back state of repose with the lights dimmed low, I think I’d rather listen to Allison Krauss singing her perfect thirds above Gillian, with that soothing bass voice Emmylou has now. But it’s ‘cause I ain’t no kid in no momma’s crib. And I’m not on the porch pickin’ banjo for nobody. I’m sitting here typing this diatribe on my laptop and accessory keyboard, getting a headache from the fake light it puts off.

The sound of Sting’s voice, and the golden reverb on Allison Krauss’ already pure voice really soothe me, and I have to say that I play those two more than all others, and I scarcely touch my treasured field recording CDs. Because I am a cell phone user, and an NPR listening, mp3 burning, smirking middle-class white kid from the Midwest.

But I have my own soul, and if you catch me on the porch, you’ll hear a little of Mrs. Carter in me, too.