Tag Archives: music

“Rasputin” by Boney M.: A folk tale song

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As soon as the interview began, the informant was in smiles. “It’s basically just a song,” they started. “It’s like a… It’s a song from the 1990s/early 2000s. And it’s like, about…” The smile grew wider. “It’s about Rasputin. He’s kinda known as like ‘the Mad Monk.'”

At this, the informant’s eyes squinted and their hands came up to form air-quotes around the phrase. Immediately after saying this, they chuckled at their own words. “So.. Yeah- have you heard of it? The song?”

I ensured them that I did. Still, we went through the lyrics together:

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago
He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow
Most people looked at him with terror and with fear
But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear
He could preach the Bible like a preacher
Full of ecstasy and fire
But he also was the kind of teacher
Women would desire

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago
He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow
Most people looked at him with terror and with fear
But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear
He could preach the Bible like a preacher
Full of ecstasy and fire
But he also was the kind of teacher
Women would desire

Ra ra Rasputin
Lover of the Russian queen
There was a cat that really was gone
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
It was a shame how he carried on

He ruled the Russian land and never mind the Czar
But the kazachok he danced really wunderbar
In all affairs of state he was the man to please
But he was real great when he had a girl to squeeze
For the queen he was no wheeler dealer
Though she’d heard the things he’d done
She believed he was a holy healer
Who would heal her son

Ra ra Rasputin
Lover of the Russian queen
There was a cat that really was gone
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
It was a shame how he carried on

But when his drinking and lusting
And his hunger for power
Became known to more and more people
The demands to do something
About this outrageous man
Became louder and louder

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

“This man’s just got to go”, declared his enemies
But the ladies begged, “don’t you try to do it, please”
No doubt this Rasputin had lots of hidden charms
Though he was a brute, they just fell into his arms
Then one night some men of higher standing
Set a trap, they’re not to blame
“Come to visit us”, they kept demanding
And he really came

Ra ra Rasputin
Lover of the Russian queen
They put some poison into his wine
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
He drank it all and said, “I feel fine”

Ra ra Rasputin
Lover of the Russian queen
They didn’t quit, they wanted his head
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
And so they shot him ’til he was dead

Oh, those Russians

Context

RELATIONSHIP –
“It’s sort of weird– It’s a childhood favorite of mine.” The informant put a hand to their head and looked up in thought. “My mom is Polish. I think it’s the only song she listens to which could be kinda connected to Polish roots due to the content. Not really culturally relevant to her, but just ‘Here’s this song! You like this song?'” They smiled at the memory.

WHERE THEY HEARD IT –
“My mom introduced me to it. And then it became the song which we played whenever she would drop me off at school at stuff.”
They told me that listening to the song was almost a daily occurrence. It would be on a recurring playlist of songs they would play.

INTERPRETATION –
“It’s one of those songs where you never really think of the lyrics, and then you heard it and it’s like ‘Oh, it’s about the revolution in Russia and the weird mystical powers of this guy named Rasputin- and then people trying to murder him.'”
“I think the song is kinda of what you would think of as classic Russian dance music. In terms of oral storytelling, it’s not a historical event, but the weird tale of this guy. I think it’s supposed to not be comical in its presentation, but comical in how they present Rasputin since he tried to convince everyone that he was mystic. And they talk about the consequences of all of his actions and the people he ended up annoying. I think it’s more about putting him down than about finding a lesson. I think it’s also teasing Russians in general. I think it’s laughing with than laughing at, though. The main thing that this song capitalizes on is the womanizing.”

Analysis

The song Rasputin takes the life of the real man and retells the story in a way that makes it how like he is a mythical figure or a character of folklore. Aside from the phrase “long ago” which is frequently used in tales to begin the story, the song describes Rasputin as having mystical features such as flaming eyes, healing powers, and irresistible charm. Something else the song does is highlight Rasputin’s flaws and the reasons behind why some people wished for his demise and saying that they weren’t wrong for plotting it. This depicts him as being an unsympathetic character as emphasis is placed on his drinking, womanizing, and hunger for power. In this song, Rasputin’s life is spun to sound like a cautionary tale, warning people of the dangers of prideful thinking.

Band Riddle

Background: The Informant was a band member in high school. The riddle was told by the band teacher.

Text:
Q: What music instrument never tells the truth?
A: A lyre.
My band teacher told us this riddle during rehearsal. I didn’t find it funny at the time. It’s pretty much a dad joke.

Analysis:
The instrument has the same pronunciation as the word “liar”. This riddle requires knowledge in the music field, which also explained the occasion and audience of the riddle.

USC marching band secret handshake

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Text:

The folk object is a kind of handshake.

“Before a competition, or before a performance, people would just walk around and do the handshake and say like good luck, have a good run. “


“This is how you do it: Put two thumbs together, spin your fist upright, and then open your hand so it’s like an upside-down high five. And then make it right side up to shake hands. “

“Only people in our band knows how to do it.”

Context:

My informant plays at a marching band at USC. According to her, this handshake had been performed before she joined the marching band. She learned it and then she taught the freshman how to do it.

Analysis:

Handshake is a very common type of folk gesture, especially in the U.S. Special handshakes are signals of shared identity or signals of difference between in-groups and out-groups. Handshakes are connected with unity and commemoration. Although many people may not know each other in my informant’s marching band(because it’s a big band), when they greet each other with a handshake, they would know that they belong to the same place. Also, unity and a sense of belonging are what a marching band needs when it comes to performance because coordination and cooperation are essential to instrumental performance. The sense of belonging is also created by the daily practice, competition, and performance that the members of the marching band participated in, thus the handshake can also be the by-product of this sense of unity. My informant is a folklore carrier. Not only had she taught me about the folk gesture, but she also teaches the freshmen of the marching band.

Filipino All Saints Day 

Background: The informant is a 54 year old man. He was born in Pampanga, Philippines. The informant grew up as Catholic, later converting to evangelical Christianity and becoming a pastor. He was exposed to the tradition by living in the Philippines. 

Context: The context was, calling the informant on the phone and asking him about his religious traditions or experiences.

Text:

PG: All Saints Day, All Saints Day, is November 1st, because trick or trick is October 31

Me: Is All Saints Day kind of like your day of the dead?

PG: Day of the Dead, is like, is like the entire cemetery is full pack is like people goes there they’re like having a celebration you know fiesta is like celebration right? Yeah we fiesta, we piesta, we celebrate, it’s like a party. All saints day, all people goes to the cemetery we don’t do it in the house everyone goes there and all cemetery all over the world is full of people they edo the party there they bring boombox.

Me: You know how on day of the dead people create offriendas, the shrine looking things, do you guys do that”

PG: “Shrine looking thing? No, they just bring flowers and candles and make them lit all day”

Analysis:

Informant: For the informant, he seems very excited about All Saint’s Day and what it entails. It is a celebration of life and death.

Mine: in this celebration, it is significant because it crosses between life and death. There is no boundary to the celebration. Normally, secretaries are associated with dreary activities, but during this holiday, it completely changes the stereotype of it. Everything is lively and it changes the usual opinion on death. Death doesn’t always need to be something to be mourned but can also be celebrated because the person has lived a good long life. Traditions can make someone reexamine the context of something and see it from a new perspective.

Jazz Slang – Band Leader Terminology

Main Piece:

CS (mid-twenties, white male, music degree background, LA resident) and I had a conversation about musicians.

Me: “So can you like explain that phrase, ‘take it to the top?'”

CS: “Take it to the top means to go back to the beginning of the song.”

Me: “That’s it?”

CS: “Well, like, there’s also usually a hand motion too.”

He mimes spinning his hand in a circle in the air.

CS: “When we used to play at bars in New York, I’d have to swing my hand around all wild and scream it out just to get people to hear me. It’s usually energetic like that, ya know? Like when you want to keep the jam [song] going, you take it back to the top.”

Background/Context:

Phrases like this seem to be universal to musicians and are passed on homogeneously by other musicians and music teachers. The emphasis of this saying is returning to the “top,” which references the top of a music sheet where the notes would begin. The only real time that this phrase would appear would be during a live performance or amidst a practice with a band that plays the sort of songs that don’t have a clear run time.

Thoughts:

Jazz definitely serves itself to folk expression because of the collaborative nature of the music. Call outs like this connect the band into a collective consciousness that allows them to move as a uniform organism. The call out to loop the song also greatly relies on reading the audience for when the energy in the room wants the song to continue, versus wanting it to end.