I’ve been pondering a moral question for a few days now… Does playing lullabies to children count as brainwashing?

It occurred to me that there probably isn’t a single individual in the English-speaking world who hasn’t heard the tune to Baa Baa Black Sheep/Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/The Alphabet Song.  We were all introduced to this ubiquitous tune before we were able to speak.  That doesn’t really bother me so much, but I wondered further: if this is acceptable behaviour, does the same apply to every kind of music?  The real underlying question I’m dying to ask is this:

Does the fact that I started my nephew’s

musical education at 2 weeks old matter?

I was watching a documentary about classic rock, and my tiny little nephew was sitting on my knee, getting distracted by Thunder’s band logo on the t-shirt I was wearing.  I decided that I may as well just tell him, right there and then, who Thunder were.  I also told him about the strange men hopping across the screen: a guitarist in a school uniform; an Irish singer with an afro; another guitarist with frizzy hair, shades and a tophat…

It started there.  Now, whenever he wont settle in my arms, I placate him by singing GnR’s Don’t Cry, and the last time my sister brought him down to visit, we went shopping and I bought him AC/DC and Kiss t-shirts.  My sister approves, and dresses him in similarly trendy band merch.  However, whilst her 4-month old looks both incredibly cool and incredibly cute in little rocker gear, I can’t help thinking that maybe we shouldn’t be doing what we’re doing.

The way I see it, music is such a personal thing that as much as I might share my musical opinions with anyone who’ll listen, I don’t think I have the right to tell anybody what they should be listening to.  I may blog about my musical recommendations, and even make bold accusatory statements sometimes, but you, my readership, have the freedom to ignore my opinion at your will…  I’m not sure that my infant nephew can quite grasp this notion!

Therefore, as much as I’d love him to grow up to be a little rock’n’roller, it’s ultimately his choice, and I keep on asking myself if I should refrain from buying him band t-shirts, from branding him with my own musical taste?  What if – heaven forfend – he grows up hating AC/DC?!  Should I refrain from playing music around him which I think he ought to like, in order that he can approach it without bias later in life?

For that matter, should I not also shield him from Disney songs?  And while I’m at it, should I try to prevent him from hearing classical music, jazz, blues, folk, funk, reggae, pop and punk, too?!  Maybe I should just protect his delicate ears from music altogether until he’s old enough and conscious enough to decide for himself what he wants to hear?  That includes lullabies, doesn’t it?  Or does it?!

This is the real root of my dilemma: I want to introduce my baby nephew to Rockabye Baby and Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star, who transform classic rock riffs into peaceful, plinky-plonky music for infants to fall asleep to.  The big question is whether one can ever be too young to be inducted into that certain club where we instantly recognise the opening bars of Smells Like Teen Spirit or Sweet Child O’ Mine.  Maybe I’m being melodramatic, but I do worry a little that if my godson is listening to Guns N’ Roses, The Killers and The Beatles whilst his contemporaries are listening to Katy Perry, One Direction or whoever rules the pop-scene in five years time, that maybe he’ll be a bit of a social outcast by the time he’s six, and end up rejecting seven decades of musical history in order to fit in!

On the other hand, I do find it slightly reassuring that my sister’s best friends play their tiny tot – my nephew’s playmate – to sleep with Kerrang!  And with baby-sized band merchandise readily available from such places as Hard Rock Cafe and even your local H&M, maybe my little nephew will just turn out to be a trend-setter amongst his little friends.

Ultimately, I guess we all do what we think is right by our young, and I think my sister trusts me to do what I believe is right by hers.  So I’m going to give my gorgeous little nephew the best musical education he can get.  He’ll learn all about the history of music: the birth of different scenes; the greats; the contemporaries; the up-and-coming.  He might be wearing AC/DC on his chest, but he’ll learn about everything from Ella to Eminem, Satriani to Sisqo.  If he chooses to listen to Katy Perry over Joe Perry, then so be it.  When he’s old enough to tell me that he doesn’t want to wear a Ramones t-shirt, I won’t ask him to wear one.  Until then, he’s gonna be a damn cute rock’n’roll style guru!

So I’ve created a playlist, dedicated to the gorgeous little Wiggle Monster: 30 of the most iconic records in music history, transformed by Rockabye Baby, to kick-start your education!  Sweet dreams, kiddo! x