“Sweet Lullaby” is an international “ethno-electronic” hit produced by French duo, Eric Mouquet and Michael Sanchez. The song is based around a Baeggu lullaby from the Solomon Islands called “Rorogwela” and uses a vocal sample originally recorded by ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp in 1969, which was later released by UNESCO as part of their Musical Sources collection. Baeggu is the language of the indigenous people of North Malaita Island and is today spoken by less than 6,000 people. The concept of electronic music artists incorporating local folk songs by way of a scholarly preservationist is not exclusive to Deep Forest. For example, Moby did something similar with “Honey.”

“Sweet Lullaby” is the voice and melody of a woman named Afunakwa. Afunakwa’s vocals were sampled, edited, and combined with other ethnic samples and layered with Sanchez’s and Mouqet’s own compositions of synthesizer sounds, drum loops, and bass line for ambiance. In all, the intricate editing process took six months. Afunakwa’s lyrics refer to a young orphan being comforted by his older brother despite the loss of their parents.