Listen, children, to a story....

The other night I was lying on the top bunk with Brigham trying to sing the boys to sleep. I haven't done that in a long time and I miss it. Here are the lyrics to the song I was singing, one of my favorites that I learned at camp:

One Tin Soldier

Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago,
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below.

On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone,
And the valley-people swore
They'd have it for their very own.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill,
Asking for the buried treasure,
Tons of gold for which they'd kill.

Came an answer from the kingdom,
"With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain,
All the riches buried there."

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

Now the valley cried with anger,
"Mount your horses! Draw your sword!"
And they killed the mountain-people,
So they won their just reward.

Now they stood beside the treasure,
On the mountain, dark and red.
Turned the stone and looked beneath it...
"Peace on Earth" was all it said.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

So I think the boys actually listened to the words for the first time, because after I was done they started asking me questions about the story. That's when Brigham said this:

"Why didn't the mountain people just lift up the stone so the valley people would know it was a lame treasure and not kill them?"

When did the word lame enter my six-year-old's vocabulary? And what are your favorite bedtime songs? Some of mine: Return to Pooh Corner, Rainbow Connection (Cindy Lynn- what is a "sunderate spell"?:), Mr. Moon, Father and Son, Go Tell Aunt Rhody...