First Song Project 

The first song that I recall was sung to me by my mom whenever she would give me a bath. The song is sung in Chinese, so I do not know the words but I always have remembered the melody (and some of the words but I may not have them quite right in my head). It is called "八個娃娃," which translates to "Eight Precious Babies" and is about a young Chinese woman who gets married and later has eight babies. The song's trail has a life in my mom's side of the family, which is Chinese. She learned it from her aunt in Malaysia and brought it with her to America when she moved here for college. When my mom would sing this to me, it was usually in the bathtub and occasionally when I went to sleep and I always could feel the love expressed in her voice. 

This song has always made me feel very close to my mom emotionally as well as physically because her bathing me as a child is a very intimate experience, especially because of how young I was and the need for my mom to take care of me was essential. I always felt her love through this song, although sometimes I would get frustrated because she sang it with such love and when I was that age there was some sort of invisible barrier that made me resist it coming in. Due to this, now that I look back, the song was sung less and less both because of me being unappreciative and getting older. Since the song is about eight precious babies, and I was my mom's precious baby, it has not faded away from our lives but has grown up with me. I like to think that the song has grown up rather than disappeared as I have gotten older. Now I understand how to appreciate the songs that I hear, especially those that come from the heart of someone I love. This appreciation has shined a light on what I used to take for granted that my mom and family does for me both in the present and looking back.