Tag Archives: children’s song

Please Rain

Text:

Que llueva, que llueva

La Virgen de la Cueva

Los pajaritos cantan, 

Las nubes se levantan. 

¡Que sí, que no,

que caiga un chaparrón!

Context:

The participant has known this saying/song since he was a young boy. Growing up in a small town in Spain, he recounts how almost everyone in his town, including his own family, has livestock and/or fields of land where they produce their own agriculture. During dry seasons, he explains that this was sung in efforts to induce rain to come and water their crops. 

Analysis:

This saying is somewhat similar to a prayer and is used as one in a sense. Usually young kids are told to call out to the Patron Saint, in hopes to promote rain that will allow the birds to sing, for the clouds to rise, and for the rain to fall. I am also part Spanish, and remember also being taught this saying in order to command rain from Mother nature. Looking back I was convinced as a child that the saying worked, as it had succeeded a few times with a light drizzle following. I now realize that it was more of a juvenile​ trick to promote optimism in my prayers, as my elders would tell me to sing it during times when they knew chances of rain were high. This saying helps instill the relation between children and beliefs in their religion, prayers, and saints.

Barney Parody Song

“Joy to the world, Barney’s dead
We barbecued his head!”

Context: The informant is a junior at USC, originally from Illinois. She told me that children from her elementary school would sing this song to the same tune as “Joy to the World,” and while there’s more to the song, she doesn’t remember it. She hasn’t sung it in a very long time and does remember there being different versions of the song as well. The “Barney” referenced is Barney the purple dinosaur from the children’s show Barney & Friends.

Analysis: From my experience, a lot of elementary schools had parody songs related to violence against Barney, but this was the first I had heard of that wasn’t actually to the tune of the show’s theme song. Regardless, this, as per Jay Mechling’s chapter in Elliott Oring’s Folk Groups and Folklore Genres, reflects one of the antithetical categories of children’s folklore: parodies. Violence against Barney is a purposeful subversion of the show’s theme (a theme that starts with “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family”) and, considering Barney was a cornerstone of many childhoods, almost seems to function as a rejection of that childishness. I think that as we grow up, it becomes “cool” to be more like the older kids; it becomes “cool” to associate with more taboo concepts like sex and violence. It becomes “uncool” to continue to believe in the blissfully unrealistic world Barney portrays, or to engage in displays of earnest emotion. Parodying violence against Barney seems to function as a way to divorce oneself from that childishness and start moving more towards adulthood. It reinforces social dynamics between age groups and shames those who still like things deemed as “childish,” defining social norms that persist far beyond childhood.

There’s A Place On Mars—Clapping Game

Background: The informant learned the song in elementary school and middle school. The song was sung while students, mainly girls, clapped their hands with each other. It has very clear rhythms. There are many variations of the lyrics, and this piece is an example of one of the variations.

Context: The informant learned this song while playing with friends in school. When singing this song, two people will face each other, clap their hands, clap each other’s hands, and repeat. It is a common song that was sung among students like her, and she knows other variations of the same song.

Main piece:
There’s a place on mars where the women smoke cigars and the men wear bikinis and the children drink martinis every breath you take is enough to kill a snake with the snake is dead you put roses on its head when the roses die you put diamonds in his eyes when the diamonds crack you put mustard on his back when the mustard fades you call the king of spades and the king of spades calls the queen of hearts and the queen of hearts packs the jack of clubs and the Jack of clubs says this Coca-Cola went to town orange soda knocked him down Dr Pepper fixed him up now we’re drinking 7up 7up got the flu now we’re drinking Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew fell off a mountain now we’re drinking from a fountain fountain broke now we’re drinking plain old C-O-K-E coke.

Analysis:
The lyrics include a lot of content that is considered inappropriate for children, such as smoking, children drinking martinis, etc. The beginning of the lyrics is a bit rebellious, which is probably why children are so interested in speaking and sharing it. The rather complex lyrics and the simple melody are an interesting combination. Compared to the lyric, the song was very simple, consisting of one short melody that keeps repeating. Since the lyrics appeal to children and the melody is easy to sing, the song spread widely among children.

Children’s Clapping Game: Lemonade, Crunchy Ice

Main Piece: 

“Lemonade 

Crunchy ice 

beat it once beat it twice 

turn around touch the ground 

kick your boyfriend out of town 

Freeze 

American cheese 

I think I’m gonna sneeze 

achoo woohoo”

Background:

The informant used to perform this song as part of clapping game in pre-school and elementary school in Arizona. She described it as an activity kids would do while lining up, such as when they were leaving the playground. She interpreted it as a distraction and time-passer, as well as something you got the joy of passing on/teaching. This was a regular activity for her and her classmates that those in her circle all knew. This was one of a few clapping games, rather than the only one they played.

Thoughts:

This recitation seems similar to other childhood clapping games such as “patty-cake”, but with different lyrics and rhythm. This game also seems more physically active and disruptive to the line than other similar games I’ve seen, with my informant demonstrating exaggerated hand movements not restricted to clapping. Presumably, this would be counter-productive to an organized line. This seems to be an example of children’s folklore responding in a disorderly way to the order imposed by adults, which is a concept explored by Jay Mechling. Children have little power, he says, and so one of the ways they squeeze some power into their grasp is through disorder. This piece of folklore seems to manifest that principle with physical disruption and nonsensical lyrics.

Children’s Clapping Game: Candy on a Stick

Main Piece: 

“Candy on a stick that makes me sick, 

It makes my tummy go two-forty-six, 

Not because you’re dirty, not because you’re clean, 

Not because you kissed a boy behind a magazine. 

Hey boys do you wanna fight 

I see a guy with his pants on tight 

He can wibble he can wobble he can even do the splits, 

But I bet ya ten bucks that he can’t do this. 

Close your eyes and count to ten, and if you mess up start over again”

Background:

The informant used to perform this song as part of clapping game in pre-school and elementary school in Arizona. She described it as an activity kids would do while lining up, such as when they were leaving the playground. She interpreted it as a distraction and time-passer, as well as something you got the joy of passing on/teaching. This was a regular activity for her and her classmates that those in her circle all knew. This was one of a few clapping games, rather than the only one they played.

Thoughts:

This recitation seems similar to other childhood clapping games such as “patty-cake”, but with different lyrics and rhythm. This clapping game also seems more based in gender than the clapping games I’m familiar with, which, though normally performed by young girls, did not stake boys so firmly as another entity. This may be an example of defiant/experimental lyrics in schoolchildren with its fighting, kissing, and tight pants. Jay Mechling explains that children tend to experiment with “inappropriate” lyrics as a way to rebel against the dominant adult figures and explore adult themes that they’re marginally aware of safely. This activity seems to be a definitively gendered form of adolescent expression. The purpose would be to explore kissing, fighting, and tight pants in a low-stakes context. For another version of this game, see Tucker, Elizabeth. “Children’s Folklore: A Handbook.” United States: ABC-CLIO, 2008. 18.