🐘 About the Song
“Baby Mine” is lullaby royalty — originally sung by Betty Noyes in Disney’s Dumbo, as Dumbo’s mother cradles him through the bars of a circus cage. It’s heartbreakingly tender, one of those songs that still hushes adults as easily as it soothes children.
Covered by everyone from Bette Midler to Alison Krauss, it’s timeless — gentle as breath, warm as a blanket. On ukulele, it’s perfect: four chords and a whole world of love.
🎸 Ukulele Playing Tips
We’ll play it in C major, which keeps it sweet and easy to sing.
You’ll need C, G7, F, and Am.
Verse progression: [C] – [G7] – [F] – [C]
Bridge: [Am] – [F] – [C] – [G7]
Strumming pattern: down-down-down-down or a slow down–down–up–up–down–up at about 60 bpm.
It’s a lullaby — every note should sound like you’re exhaling.
If you want to make it extra dreamy, fingerpick 4–3–2–1 on each chord, letting the notes melt into each other.
Singing tip: Don’t try to sing it big. Whisper it. The emotion is in restraint — think of it as a song you’d hum into someone’s hair.
💡 Trivia You Can Drop Casually
- “Baby Mine” was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1942.
- The scene it plays under is often cited as one of Disney’s most emotional moments ever.
- Alison Krauss’s cover for Dumbo (2019) is beloved for its bare-bones simplicity — voice, strings, and silence.
- The song became an unexpected hit in the 1980s thanks to Bette Midler’s version in Beaches.
🌈 Final Word
“Baby Mine” is everything a lullaby should be: soft, patient, and full of impossible love.
On ukulele, it’s a reminder that small things — like four strings or a single melody — can hold oceans of emotion.
Don’t rush it. Don’t embellish. Just play it like you mean every word.
