Originally composed in 1966, Lauliku lapsepoli became part of a larger five-song set in 1971 entitled Laulud laulust ja laulikust (songs of Singing and the Songster).  In the midst of Soviet occupation and suppressions of Estonian cultural expression, Tormis created this set and dedicated each movement to a folklorist colleague who, during this period, supported his emphasis of regilaul-based composition.  Regilaul texts are single non-strophic lines of 8 syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables (trochaic).  Instead of end rhymes, these texts use alliteration (repetition of initial consonant sounds in successive words) and assonance (neighboring juxtaposition of vowel sounds).  The melodies are characterized by a narrow range, scalar motion, frequent repetition of tones and independence fromt he harmonic motion so typical of western European folk tunes.