There is only one song my father ever sang to us, a German folk song from the 1800s called Du, du liegst mir im Herzen.

His mother (my grandmother) used to sing it to him in German, and that is how he sang it to us. Sometimes they would sing it together after Sunday lunch, before we cleared the table.

I do not speak German. I only knew the translation of the title: You, you are in my heart.

I always thought it was a sort of lullaby. It did not occur to me until I tried to sing the song to my own girls that I should figure out the meaning of the words in English.

Here is the translation:

You, you are in my heart.

you, you are in my mind.

You, you make me much pain,

You don’t know how good I am for you.

Yes, yes, yes, yes you don’t know how good I am for you.

So, as I love you

so, so love me too.

The most tender desires

I feel for you forever.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, I feel for you forever.

But, but may I trust you

you, you with a light heart?

You, you know you can rely on me

You do know how good I am!

Yes, yes, yes, yes You do know how good I am!

And, and if in the distance,

it seems to me like your picture,

then, then I wish so much

that we were united in love.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, that we were united in love.

Not quite the lullaby I was expecting. I should probably figure out the translation behind the other German phrases I use without thinking. When I sing to my own children, I stick to the Bible songs I learned in Sunday School–in English.

Did your parents ever sing to you? Do you sing to your own children?