Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)

Grandma Stella remembers the tender moment when a father wrote a lullaby to soothe his daughter and answer her question about life after death.

Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)

Song by Billy Joel. Songwriter Billy Joel. Artist Yvonne Anne Gilbert.

(Joel wrote this as a lullaby for his 7-year-old daughter Alexa Ray, in response to her question, “Where do we go when we die.” He told Alexa when she first asked him about life after death: “What I told her was, ‘After you die, you go into other people’s hearts and they take you with them through their lives, and then you pass that along to your children.’ )

Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes

And save these questions for another day

I think I know what you’ve been asking me

I think you know what I’ve been trying to say

I promised I would never leave you

Then you should always know

Wherever you may go, no matter where you are

I never will be far away.

Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to sleep

And still so many things I want to say

Remember all the songs you sang for me

When we went sailing on an emerald bay

And like a boat out on the ocean

I’m rocking you to sleep

The water’s dark and deep, inside this ancient heart

You’ll always be a part of me

Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to dream

And dream how wonderful your life will be

Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby

Then in your heart there will always be a part of me

Someday we’ll all be gone

But lullabies go on and on

They never die

That’s how you and I will be