“Dodoi” is a whole genre of traditional Malay lullaby — soft, rhyming verses built to rock a baby to sleep while quietly teaching them their first lessons about kindness, patience, and family.
▶ More lullabies on YouTube
Verse 1
C F C
Dodoi, dodoi, anakku sayang,
F C G7
gem geram, tidurlah engkau.
(Dodoi, dodoi, my beloved child — hush now, and go to sleep.)
C F C
Dodoi, dodoi, my darling one,
F C G7
hush now, hush now, till the sleeping’s done.
Verse 2
C F C
Grow up gentle, grow up kind, that’s the wish this song will keep,
F C G7
dodoi, dodoi, my little one, drift now into sleep.
Play it
Chords — guitar & piano
C
Guitar
Piano
F
Guitar
Piano
G7
Guitar
Piano
Good to know
What this song means
Lagu Dodoi (the “Dodoi song”) is a traditional Malay lullaby genre built from short, rhyming, easily-repeated verses. Beyond simply soothing a baby to sleep, dodoi verses often carry small lessons — about good behaviour, respect, and family bonds — tucked gently inside the melody, so that a child’s very first songs are also their first quiet lessons in how to be.
Traditional Malay “Dodoi” lullaby style. The English lyrics are a singable adaptation built around the tradition’s real, documented opening line and theme.
More songs to sing & play
Back to all our nursery rhymes and lullabies – each one with a different friend.
← All nursery rhymes

