Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Brickman enrolled in the Cleveland Institute of Music taking courses in composition and performance, while taking business classes at Case Western Reserve University. His music career started when he was nineteen, when Jim Henson hired him to write tunes for Sesame Street. He was also hired to write commercial jingles while in college.
Brickman writes a wide variety of music. Besides his piano compositions and love songs, he has also created arrangements of other songs. Several of his albums feature arrangements of children's music; he has produced two Christmas-themed albums The Gift (1997) and Peace (2003); and his 2005 album Grace concentrates on arrangements of well-known Christian music.
Jim Brickman has also starred in the now-on-DVD PBS specials "My Romance: An Evening with Jim Brickman", "Love Songs & Lullabies" and "The Disney Songbook." In 2006, he sponsored his first Jim Brickman Valentine's Day Cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines which has become an annual event.
All the Pretty Horses
Jim Brickman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Go to sleep my little baby.
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
Black and bays, dapples, grays,
All the pretty little horses.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep my little baby.
Go to sleep my little baby.
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
The lyrics to Jim Brickman's song "All the Pretty Horses" are tender and soothing, expressing a mother's desire to comfort her child and lull them to sleep. The repeated refrain of "Hush-a-bye, don't you cry, go to sleep my little baby" creates a sense of safety and security, while the promise that "when you wake you shall have all the pretty little horses" inspires wonder and imagination. The list of horse colors - black and bays, dapples, grays - adds to the dreamlike quality of the song, evoking a pastoral landscape and a sense of innocence and joy.
At the same time, there is a hint of sadness or longing in the lyrics. The mother seems to be trying to keep the child calm and comforted even in the face of uncertainty or loss. The image of horses, though pretty, also suggests something wild and free that cannot be completely tamed or possessed. Perhaps the mother is trying to prepare her child for a world that is both beautiful and unpredictable, and to imbue them with a sense of wonder and resilience.
Overall, "All the Pretty Horses" is a gentle, lyrical tribute to the power of a mother's love and the magic of childhood dreams.
Line by Line Meaning
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Be calm and quiet, do not shed tears,
Go to sleep my little baby.
Fall asleep, dear child.
When you wake you shall have
As soon as you awaken, you will receive
All the pretty little horses.
All the beautiful horses, majestic and graceful,
Black and bays, dapples, grays,
Horses of various colors and patterns,
All the pretty little horses.
All the beautiful horses, majestic and graceful,
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Be calm and quiet, do not shed tears,
Go to sleep my little baby.
Fall asleep, dear child.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Be calm and quiet, do not shed tears,
Go to sleep my little baby.
Fall asleep, dear child.
When you wake you shall have
As soon as you awaken, you will receive
All the pretty little horses.
All the beautiful horses, majestic and graceful,
Contributed by Harper H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.