Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

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Now I lay me down to sleep And pray the Lord my soul to keep And if I die before I wake Pray the Lord my soul to take

A common Christian prayer said before bedtime, dating back at least to the 18th-century New England Primer. In media, this is always said by children and has two uses:

• Showing how adorable or mischevious they are.
• Ironic Nursery Tune, especially in religious horror.

In the first variation, expect some kind of mundane addition like "and also give me a pony".

Examples of Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep include:

Film

• Used rather ominously, though appropriately, in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
  • From A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master:

Chorus Children: Now I lay me down to sleep. The Master of Dreams my soul will keep. In the reflection by my side... Alice Johnson: Evil will see itself, and it shall die!

• Little Miss Marker (1934). Sorrowful Jones (Adolphe Menjou) teaches the rhyme to Marthy Jane (Shirley Temple) before she goes to bed.
• Used in the trailer for My Soul To Take. It's also probably in the movie.

Literature

• In On a Pale Horse, Death decides to read his mail against the advice of his household staff, and one of the letters is from a girl who is afraid that she'll die in her sleep because her mother makes her recite this prayer before going to bed.
• Then there's the Selfish Kid's Prayer by Shel Silverstein:

If I should die before I wake Pray the Lord my toys to break So no other kids can use 'em...

• Discworld
  • In Hogfather, Susan mentions this as one of the reasons she hates the previous nanny of the kids she looks after.
  • Thud!: After extremist dwarfs break into Vimes's house, he, Sybil and their baby son briefly move into the Watch house. Four troll officers volunteer to guard Young Sam. Vimes hopes the boy will be impressed when he's older, as the best most kids can hope for is angels.
• In Orson Scott Card's Homecoming series, the first half of the fourth book (dealing with a crisis during an interstellar voyage with most of the characters in Suspended Animation) is titled If I Should Wake Before I Die.
• In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the second verse of Marvin's lullaby starts with this line.

Now I lay me down to sleep Try to count electric sheep Sweet dream wishes you can keep How I hate the night

Live-Action TV

• Parodied by, of all people, Father Mulcahy in Mash:

Now I lay me down to sleep, A bag of peanuts at my feet. If I die before I wake, Give them to my brother Jake.

Music

• The HIM song "Buried Alive By Love" plays with the second part of the prayer:

If I should die before I wake, pray no one my soul to take And if I wake before I die, rescue me with your smile.

• Said word-for-word in Metallica's "Enter Sandman". In that case, it's clearly more of a Ironic Nursery Rhyme, as weird things keep happening, in a Nightmare On Elm Street kind of way. Or were simply nightmares.
• Pirates of the Mississipi, "Feed Jake"

Now I lay me down to sleep Pray the Lord my soul to keep And if I die before I wake, Feed Jake He's been a good dog, my best friend, right through it all If I die before I wake, Feed Jake

• "Midnight Girl/Sunset Town" by Sweethearts of the Rodeo:

Now I lay me down to sleep Pray the Lord my soul to keep If I should die before the world turns 'round Lord, don't leave me in this one horse town

• Kid Cudi uses the last two lines in the chorus of The Prayer:

And if I die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take But please don't cry Just know that I am making songs for you

Newspaper Comics

• Done many times in newspaper comics with small children like Dennis the Menace and Family Circus.
• A Garfield strip shows Jon starting the prayer, but he stops because he hears Garfield open the refrigerator door.
• Parodied in a Pearls Before Swine strip with Larry the Croc and his son:

"Now I lay me down to sleep. Mow da zeebas down like sheep. Give dem to me nice and dead. Me no happy 'til me fed."

Recorded and Stand Up Comedy

• Bill Cosby, in his "Cool Covers" routine from the Revenge album, describes how inappropriate it is to teach this prayer to a young child who's already scared to go to bed due to bedroom closet monsters.
• Tim Hawkins mentioned this too.

Now I lay me down to sleep ... I pray the Lord my soul ... to keep ... If I ... should DIE ... before I wake ... I pray the Lord ... my soul ... to take ... *kiss* Sweet dreams! See you in the morning -- maybe! ... Oh, and don't let the bedbugs bite! Muahahahaha!

Western Animation

• Looney Tunes often uses this, particularly when a character is at gunpoint or under some other apparently mortal threat. The main villains, such as Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd, often make the demand, "Say your prayers, rabbit!"
• The clown bed Homer botches up for Bart in The Simpsons recites parts of the prayer in a way that is pure Nightmare Fuel. "If you should die before you wake, hoohuhuhhyukhyukhyuk..."
  • Can't sleep, clown'll eat me. Can't sleep, clown'll eat me. Can't sleep, clown'll eat me.
• Donald Duck used it once in the Prince and the Pauper adaption.
• In Puss Gets the Boot, Jinx (later known as Jerry) says it when he's caught by Jasper (Tom).