Background: The informant, S, is a 21 year old who grew up in the southeast United States. Her mother often sang her this song to get her to fall asleep as a child. S’s mother and grandmother are from the southeast U.S., as well.
Context: S asked her mother what the lyrics to the “mockingbird lullaby” she often sang to S were. S then typed the lyrics and sent them to me via email.
Analysis: This song, which is sung to babies to fall asleep, is thought to be a regional lullaby for the Southeast United States. It was first collected in Virginia in 1918, and another version with different lyrics was found shortly after in North Carolina. S heard this song when she was living in Georgia.
See also: For a published literary adaptation of this lullaby, see: Frazee, Marla. Hush, Little Baby: A Folk Song with Pictures. United States, Browndeer Press, 2003.
My informant for this piece is my grandmother, who learned this song from her father and passed it on to her children and grandchildren. She grew up up in North Central Wisconsin and suspects that it came from one of the men’s groups, likely a fraternity, that her father was a part of there.
Context:
My grandma sings this tune quite often in times of relaxation when joking around is warranted. I specifically remember her performing it down by the water on our family vacations to Lake Kathrine, Wisconsin, during summers when I was growing up.
Main Piece:
“I’m a devil, a dirty rotten devil, put poison in my mother’s cream of wheat! I put a blotch on, the family escutcheon, and I eat *slurp noise 2x* raw meat!”
Analysis:
While this piece of lore could be looked at as great example of how dark comedy can play an important role in the relationships between an individual and their loved ones, I want to consider it through the lens of a parent who’s child is mad at them. Given that a the rhyme uses the word “escutcheon” (the spelling of which I had to Google), I think it’s unlikely that it was written by a child. With that in mind, the parent in this situation is able to satirize the childs anger at them by joking that the child wishes to poison them–while that may not be completely true, it’s possible that the parent feels there’s some truth in the statement. Nonetheless, in noting the amount of chaos that children can cause at times, this rhyme shows the wisdom of a parent accepting that fact in their ability to make light of it.
The following piece was collected from a twenty woman from San Jose, CA. The woman will hereafter be referred to as the “Informant”, and I the “Collector”.
Informant: “My family has a very specific Happy Birthday song.”
Collector: “How so?
Informant: “We have, like, twelve songs we sing. Well, that’s an exaggeration. We have like five one we sing after the original Happy Birthday.”
Collector: “Will you sing it haha?”
Informant: “Haha..umm… okay. So it’s normal Happy Birthday, yada yada, then it’s ‘Stand up and tell us your age’, then it’s ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’, then you launch into ‘May the dear Lord bless you’. And then it’s everyone’s favorite one, ‘Hail, hail.’”
Collector: “How does that one go?”
Informant: “So there are hand motions too. Every time you sing ‘hail’, you have to throw your hands in the air. And the rest of the time, you’re swinging you arm back and forth.” (Does a motion similar to a yee-haw – bent elbow, fist near the chin, and swing it to and from.)
“Hail, hail the gang’s all here!
What the heck do we care,
What the heck do we care,
Hail, hail the gang’s all here!
What the heck do we care now!”
Context
The Informant learned the song from her father, who supposedly claims he came up with it. The Informant, however, tells me that she believes it was a school chant the students would cheer at their school’s sports game. Nonetheless, it has been apart of every Happy Birthday song she has every sung at a family gathering. The Informant loves that her family has their own way of singing Happy Birthday. They treat it as a secret of sorts: if you know the song and the motions, you’re part of the inner circle.
Interpretation
I was thrilled to hear this new rendition of Happy Birthday. While I was aware there were many versions of Happy Birthday, specifically those when you add “cha cha cha” or the one about how old you are, I had never heard this piece before. The added interpretation of the Informant’s belief that it acts as a method of deciphering who is really a part of the group and who is not is an added benefit. This song celebrates the one whose birthday it is while also celebrating the bond and closeness of a people who all know the same secret.
Occupation: Hospital Research Receptionist— Homemaker, Nurse, etc.
Residence: Fort Worth, Texas
Date of Collection: 4/09/18
Description:
I DON’T LIKE YOUR FAMILY
THEY DON’T MAKE A HIT WITH ME
I DON’T WANT TO BOTHER SENDING MONEY TO YOUR FATHER
WHILE YOUR MA’S RELATIONS LIVE ON ME
I DON’T BELIEVE YOUR UNCLE JOHN
EVER HAD A COLLAR ON
YOU’RE A PERFECT LADY BUT WHEN I GET HITCHED FOR LIFE
I WANT AN ORPHAN
YOUR PA WITH A KNIFE
HAS THE TIME OF HIS LIFE
EATING PEAS IN THE GOOD OLD WAY
YOUR SISTER AND BROTHER THROW PLATES AT EACH OTHER
WHILE BABAY CRIES BOTH NIGHT AND DAY
THIS MIGHT ALL GO SWELL IN A NICE PADDED CELL
BUT IT’S NOT MY IDEA OF HOME SWEET HOME.
I DON’T LIKE YOUR FAMILY
THEY DON’T MAKE A HIT WITH ME
I DON’T WANT TO BOTHER SENDING MONEY TO YOUR FATHER
WHILE YOUR MA’S RELATIONS LIVE ON ME
I DON’T BELIEVE YOUR UNCLE JOHN
EVER HAD A COLLAR ON
YOU’RE A PERFECT LADY BUT WHEN I GET HITCHED FOR LIFE
I WANT AN ORPHAN
Context/Significance:
The Keller Family song is believed to have been invented by Julianna Keller’s Great Aunt “Doodles.” Originally known as “The Gableman Family Song” before transitioning into “The Keller Family Song,” the song was invented by “Doodles” during the time that she was a vaudevillian performer.
“Doodles” ran away from home when she was an early teenager and left at first to join the traveling circus. After performing in the circus as a bare back rider, “Doodles” moved on to later perform in vaudeville and presumably picked up the song there. The lyrics have adapted every little over time but many of the lyrics have been forgotten by most of the family— Only a few members have bee able to retain the full text.
It is believed that “Doodles” stole the song from one of her performances. The family likes this song in particular since there is an Uncle John in the family and they all point to him when the reference comes up. The family has sung this song once before when Julianna was at a gathering this past summer in Telluride, Colorado.
The song was typed up and provided by Judith Keller; The performer in the recording is Julianna Keller. The fragment provided is all that Judith and Julianna Keller were able to provide from memory.
Personal Thoughts:
The Keller Family Song is a “would-be” oikotype of a vaudevillian melody (if we knew which vaudevillian song it was specifically). The song has been passed down for through at least three generations and has adapted from its original invented version. The song is primarily sung at large family reunions or gatherings when segments of the family that aren’t usually connected get to interact with one another. Most members of the family know the song, but all only know specific parts and seem to rely on each other for remembering the full lyrics.
