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With Tobia · Netherlands

Slaap Kindje Slaap

Key: C~66 BPMGuitar & Piano chords

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The best-known lullaby in the Netherlands, sung to almost every Dutch child at bedtime for generations. A sheep grazing outside, drinking its milk — small, homely images that make the whole world feel safe and near. Here you will find a singable English adaptation, the meaning, and chords.

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Verse 1

C           F      C
Slaap, kindje, slaap,
F     C      G7
daar buiten loopt een schaap.
(Sleep, little child, sleep — outside walks a little sheep.)
C      F       C
Sleep now, my little one, sleep tight,
F     C      G7
a small white sheep grazes in the night.

Verse 2

C        F      C
Een schaap met witte voetjes,
F     C      G7
dat drinkt zijn melk zo zoetjes.
(A sheep with tiny white feet, drinking its milk so sweetly.)
C       F      C
Small white feet upon the ground,
F     C      G7
drinking milk without a sound.
Play it

Chords — guitar & piano

C
×
Guitar
CEG
Piano
F
Guitar
CFA
Piano
G7
Guitar
DFGB
Piano
Good to know

What this song means

Slaap Kindje Slaap (“Sleep, Little Child, Sleep”) is the single most familiar lullaby in the Netherlands — almost every Dutch adult can hum it from memory. It paints bedtime as something small and gentle happening just outside the window: a sheep with little white feet, quietly drinking its milk while the child drifts off inside. Simple, circular, and endlessly repeatable, it’s often the very first song a Dutch parent ever sings.

Traditional Dutch lullaby. The English lines here are a singable adaptation for this arrangement, offered as a respectful tribute — not a literal translation.

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Sources & rights

  • Words and melody: see the credits in the text of this page. Older songs are traditional or in the public domain; songs by known authors keep their authors' credit.
  • Recording and arrangement: real instruments played by hand, no AI music, by Relax In No Time.
  • Chords: written by us for guitar and piano.
  • Translation: our own meaning-for-meaning translation, written for understanding. The sung words stay in the original language.

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