“Unconditional Love”

(Sofie & Annita/Marios)

When caregivers create lullabies for their babies, they fill the airwaves with emotions and thoughts that stem from the depths of their hearts, adorned with melodies and harmonies that become the vehicles for their expression.

Did you miss the previous blog post on this lullaby? Read it here. 

During the process of the Lullaby Project, this becomes one of the main challenges and responsibilities that composers have – to become vehicles themselves. To help parents express without interfering with the emotional foundation of what is being created. To translate and materialize the caregivers’ ideas, guiding them in the creative process, and allowing their inspiration to shine.

This requires empathy, trust, and bonding. It requires the space for parents to feel safe to express their thoughts and ideas, and the ability on the part of composers to tune into what is being said, “listen” to the musical possibility of it, and become agents of its creation.

Annita and Marios, working with Sofie, became such agents. They heard her thoughts, felt her love, and listened closely to her musical ideas. Annita, being a mother herself, already had a common ground to step onto. For Marios, it was a new experience, and one through which he transformed as an artist and a human. All the participants who worked together for this enchanting lullaby found this an enriching experience, and, in the process they all grew. 

And that’s the beauty of sharing, creation, and love. A beauty that is readily audible in this lullaby, written in the Greek-Cypriot dialect and sung in the musical idiom of love.

Artist collaborating with mother: Annita Constantinou and Marios Kolonias  

Lullaby Supported by: University of Nicosia 

Follow Sistema Cyprus’ social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to experience the journey of Lullaby creation.

“Adorable Child”

(Dioh & Andreas)

Dioh sings to her little treasures and, as she does, she teaches them how to sing. Dioh sings to her little treasures the lullaby she wrote for them and, as she does, she watches them being soothed to sleep. And then, sometimes, at moments when she least expects it, she hears them sing that same lullaby, their lullaby, and those very moments become yet another passage for the majesty of motherhood to be revealed.

Because, motherhood is a sacred thing, entailing a multitude of roles. As Dioh herself writes:

“I equally admire the strength of every mother. Accepting to obtain degrees informally the moment she gained the title mother. She becomes a teacher, teaching and nurturing her kids from childhood to adulthood. She becomes an economist/accountant managing the finances of her home. An environmentalist, taking proper care of her surroundings. A doctor, giving first aid to the kids at home before rushing to the hospital if the need arises. Every other profession we could think of, a woman has obtained informal certificates.

It’s not by chance we call our universe “mother earth” and not “father earth”, because the globe is in the hands of women”.

What is ever-present in Dioh’s passage, is the part that a mother plays as a role-model. The way in which her example is transferred to her children by osmosis. The power she has in raising them as humans who will aspire for a better future. 

And therefore, when Dioh’s children sing their own lullaby to the world, she can hear all the love and affection that she infused in its creation being channeled to them and through them. And she knows that from generation to generation, the thread of light, love and hope will keep leading us to a better world.

Artist collaborating with mother: Andreas Michalopoulos

Lullaby Supported by: Frederick University  

Follow Sistema Cyprus’ social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to experience the journey of Lullaby creation.

“A recipe for love”

(Louise & Giorgos)

The lights are low, the night is rising, a baby is about to fall asleep, enveloped by the comforting sound of love as this is expressed through the melodies, the rhythm, the sonic images carried by a lullaby. Although this scene might be to so many an aspect of their daily routine, there is always something magical in that very moment when, safe and soothed by the voice of a mother, a father, a caregiver, a baby closes its eyes and enters the world of dreams.

And yet, the significance of a lullaby does not stop at that. For, lullabies are not merely love songs that aim to aid a baby fall sleep. They are vehicles that transfer, even if subtly, parents’ experiences and beliefs and aspirations for their children. This becomes even more evident in cases of lullabies that are created by caregivers especially for their babies. As is the lullaby Louise wrote for her little boy.

Did you miss the first post for this lullaby? Read it here. 

One of Louise’s main principles is her desire to be a good role model. In fact, she believes that women can be the most significant role models for a new generation that will make an effective change for a better future. As she has shared during one of our conversations, her mother was to her exactly that: a role model who she has always admired and of whose the positive example she does her best to follow.

She aspires that she will become an exceptional role model for her baby, too. That she will be able to set a positive example for her son, as her mother has done for her. So that her son will know that life is in his hands – and that he can achieve everything as long as he is a good human, a hard-working person who strives to achieve his dreams while also remaining respectful and kind to all other beings around him. 

This is one of Louise’s most significant purposes ever since she gave birth to her little boy. And, this significant purpose, aligned as it is with the essence of motherhood, might be what further strengthens her feelings of love, elation and hopefulness; what inspires her to sing

“Since I gave birth to you, I have felt only joy and happiness in my life”

Follow Sistema Cyprus’ social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to experience the journey of Lullaby creation.

To find out more about Sistema Cyprus, please visit the website: www.sistemacyprus.com 

Artist collaborating with mother: Giorgos Christofi 

Lullaby Supported by: EY Cyprus 

Follow Sistema Cyprus’ social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to experience the journey of Lullaby creation.

“Love of my life”

(Aurelie & Georgia)

“I dedicate this song to my baby, the love of my life, my hope for life…”

…that’s how Aurelie begins the dedication she has written to accompany the lullaby for her little baby. For the little miracle she carried in her womb for nine months; the one that she now carries in her arms. The little miracle to whom and for whom she has been singing.

Did you miss the first post for this lullaby? Read it here. 

In this seemingly simple dedication, Aurelie unveils and communicates deeper ties between a lullaby, a mother, and her child; between a lullaby, a mother, and the love of her life. For lullabies are, much too often, love songs – bodies of melodies, harmonies, rhythm and words that carry the feelings of unconditional love that parents and caregivers have for their babies. Love songs sung to lull babies each night, filled with affection and care and gratitude and hope for a life filled with light.

Her dedication reminds us, also, how lullabies can be seen as extensions, as sonic embodiments, even, of that connection between mother and child. When Aurelie was writing the lullaby for her baby, she was singing it to him, and he could hear it from within. An internal sonic bond that can only be experienced between embryo and mother, as extensions of one of the other. Now, Aurelie sings to her baby while holding it. And, her voice, becomes the extension of that extension – the extension of that connection, that aurally envelops the baby, creating a safe, comforting space.

And so, when one reads the full dedication of Aurelie:

“I dedicate this song to my baby, the love of my life, my hope for life. You can go wherever you want, I will never be far” 

…we know that that bond, sonically embodied by their lullaby, is one that connects mother and child regardless of place, circumstances, and time.

Artist collaborating with mother: Georgia Chrystoforou

Lullaby Sponsor: XM Cyprus

Follow Sistema Cyprus’ social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to experience the journey of Lullaby creation.

“I want to sing”

(Y. & Mostafa)

They say that the only constant in life, is change. A change that takes all sorts of façades and unfolds in countless possible ways. Change is often present in lullabies in different forms, too. In the way caregivers sing about how the arrival of a baby has influenced their lives, in the way they express their hope for a better tomorrow for their children. Change is present even by the mere fact that the lullaby – sung before sleep – encompasses in itself a journey from today to tomorrow. 

Did you miss the first post for this lullaby? Read it here. 

At the same time, even in change, there are elements that remain constant. Elements that hold together the befores and the afters, threads that connect past, present and future, making them into complete wholes. And, the “constant in the change” is something that is again characteristic of lullabies.

Historically, and in not few civilizations, one of the roles of lullabies had been to pass down cultural knowledge and tradition. This is a current noticeable today, too, although it does not necessarily happen purposefully. Rather, one could say that when a mother, a father, a caregiver creates a lullaby for their baby, they do it from the heart – from the purest corners of their being, from the depths of their experience; places where tradition often resides.

‘Y’ took a journey with his three daughters, a journey that brought them from Syria to Cyprus. Cyprus is home now, and, in this home, Y. writes a lullaby for his little ones. In the lyrics he weaves, in the Arabic language, words that express his love, his pride, and his aspirations for them. In the music he paints sonic images of tradition with an Arabic rhythm that is played with percussion instruments from his country; the doumbek, the riq… 

“God protect them for me

and make their dreams come true”…

…he sings, gazing to the future with his daughters. And he does it in the present, but without losing the connection with the past. 

And, by experiencing the interplay between continuity and change through the lullaby Y. has created, we are reminded that, while the world undergoes rapid changes, new generations replace older ones, and tradition is ever-modernized, some things remain constant and universal: the unconditional love of parents and caregivers for their children, and the heartfelt way in which this love is expressed when they lull their babies each night.

Artist collaborating with mother: Mostafa Ismail

Lullaby Supported by: European University  

Follow Sistema Cyprus’ social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to experience the journey of Lullaby creation.

“Adorable Child”

(Dioh & Andreas)

“I’ll always love you, remember

You will be mine forever

You’ll be attached to my heart

No one will take you apart”

…sings Dioh, and in her lullaby she captures the majesty of maternal love. That bond between mother and children that is eternal, unbreakable, and universal. It defies geographical locations, cultural backgrounds and historical specificities. Dioh speaks as a mother, and her words resonate with every mother of this world. She speaks to her children and her melodies unfold to embrace every child of this world.

Being a mother is a significant aspect of who Dioh is, as is evident to anyone who has seen her spreading her love to her three little angels – her mother, her coucou and her mee-mee. At the same time, she is a woman; a creative person who loves to sing. She comes from the English-speaking South-West region of Cameroon and she carries many melodies, traditions and stories in her from Ndian division, Bamuso sub-division.

All these melodies, traditions, and stories – along with the love for her children – reside in the lullaby “Adorable child”, even if they are not immediately heard. Because the lullaby itself is part of her, her story, her experience, her existence. An existence that glances upwards when she sings every night… 

“Bright stars over the sky

Sweet dreams my beautiful child”

…and knows that under that same sky, hundreds of other children are being lulled to sleep, or ought to be. And, with all the maternal love she has within, goes on to sing for all the children of the world,

“Sleep tight on this splendid night”

Artist collaborating with mother: Andreas Michalopoulos

Lullaby Supported by: Frederick University  

Follow Sistema Cyprus’ social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to experience the journey of Lullaby creation.

“A recipe for love”

(Louise & Giorgos)

…Louise sings, and she sings from the heart, in the lullaby she wrote for her little boy. And, although the lyrics she wrote are in the Bassa language, the song itself – as the majority of lullabies – preserves its universal tinge. And it resonates. It resonates with all the mothers and the children of the world.

Louise loves to sing. She loves to sing from the heart. She loves to bake cakes, too. Combining different ingredients to create something flavoursome, enjoyable, soothing. A pinch of this and a spoonful of that. Separate elements mixed for the creation of a meaningful whole.

In the lyrics quoted above, Louise creates the base with boundless love (“I love you with all my heart”), goes on to add the hope that her son will be protected and safe at all times (“I pray to the Lord everyday to protect you”), and follows with the wish that he is blessed with intelligence (“make you an intelligent person”). These three elements are strong indicators of parental affection and of the dreams they have for their children’s future

And, as ingredients, all three elements have been used in just the right amount here – so as, when sung, to be able to “serve” the very essence of the lullaby. Louise’s lullaby for her son and every parent’s lullaby for every child. The essence of the lullaby as the carrier of parental affection.

And this is the perfect recipe for love!

Artist collaborating with mother: Giorgos Christofi 

Lullaby Supported by: EY Cyprus 

Follow Sistema Cyprus’ social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to experience the journey of Lullaby creation.

“Unconditional Love”

(Sofie & Annita/Marios)

“Live, love, dare, fall, and have no fear 

cry, laugh hard, and win, and lose,

I might have given birth to you, 

but be a child of this world”

Sofie lulls her daughter with words of care and resilience, with notes of hope and strength, with messages of perseverance and happiness. She does not paint images of uninterrupted happiness – although every parent wishes that for their child; she paints images of the beauty of life, with all the reality that this beauty entails. For, she wants her little girl to know that any difficulty that might be met on the way is “part of life” and should be embraced fearlessly and, hence, it shall be overcome.

The element of empowerment is a common feature in lullabies. It manifests itself in the seemingly simple melodies, it is weaved in words full of joy and dreamy splendor. Because a mother, a father, a caregiver knows that life is full of challenges, and they know that one way to protect their little angels from hardship is to instill in them the certainty that they have the strength to endure and to rise above difficulties, should such difficulties be met.

So does Sofie. In the lullaby she composed for her little girl, she shows how the unconditional love of a mother does not turn a blind eye to the struggles of this world. And, indeed, in the lullaby she composed, does not promise her daughter a utopian world – one that she cannot provide, as much as she might want to. What she does promise is that, in this non-utopian world, she will always be there to offer support, nurture, guidance, and love. In her words:  

“Do not be afraid to get hurt, everything is life’s part

and remember always, you have your mother’s love”

Artist collaborating with mother: Annita Constantinou and Marios Kolonias  

Lullaby Supported by: University of Nicosia 

Follow Sistema Cyprus’ social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to experience the journey of Lullaby creation.

“I want to sing”

(‘Y’ & Mostafa)

Lullabies are usually sung to babies when the night is falling, the dark is arising and the doors to dreams are about to open. And still, regardless of this indirect association with the darker hours of the day, lullabies abound in light. It only takes some hearings of lullabies from around the world to identify the prominence of images of twinkling stars, of the moon, and of countless other references – direct and indirect – to luminous manifestations.

The reference to light, as this appears in the intimate form of lullabies, mirrors the light that floods the relationship between parents and their children, in itself a multi-dimensional construct that projects its sparkle to different directions. 

In the lullaby he wrote for his three daughters, Y. sings… 

“I am proud of you,

you who lit up my life”

… emphasizing one aspect of this luminous association. The happiness, the hope, the fulfillment parents experience through the relationship between themselves and their babies. Y. finds in his daughters the light that brightens his life and the strength to move on, taking a journey that will create the possibilities for a better future for them all. 

Original lyrics of the lullaby ‘Bedi Ghani’

This, in itself, reveals another dimension of how light plays a central role in the relationship between parents and their children. And that is the brightness the parents want and wish for their children to have in their lives – both in the sense of enlightenment, as well as in the form of the light that will cast all darkness away along their way. Whatever the circumstances one might be facing, whatever the conditions one might be living in at times, light – in its literal and metaphorical sense – remains important for the well-being, the safety, the confidence we need as we navigate through life. Parents feel that deeply, and they express it by so often making references to it in the lullabies with which they sing their babies goodnight.

Follow Sistema Cyprus’ social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to experience the journey of Lullaby creation.

To find out more about the Lullaby Project, visit the website: www.sistemacyprus.com/news