Informant: Let me sing it for you—it’s actually really good. I mean, it’s like a real song with a melody… kind of.

It goes something like:
“Announcements, announcements, announcements—
a horrible way to die,
a horrible way to die,
a horrible way to start the day,
a horrible way to die…”

And then it turns into this chant where everyone joins in—like, “Marshmallow! Shut up! Throw them in the lake, throw them in the lake!” or sometimes the pool.

There’s a whole other part of it that I can’t totally remember, but I swear there was more. And then at some point it just turns into random stuff—like people shouting “Mickey Mouse! Lego!”

It’s very chaotic, but that’s kind of what makes it fun.

Context: The informant learned this song at her sleepaway summer camp located in the Berkshires. The first part of the song was sung whenever someone said the word “announcements.” The second part of the song would be sung, and depending on if they were closer to the lake or pool, the individual who said the word would then be thrown in that body of water. Announcements not happening when they were scheduled to (at breakfast) were seen as bad luck in the camp, thus not wanting the word to be said by campers and counselors during the day.

Analysis: The word “announcements” acts as a kind of trigger word, activating the performance or, in a sense, conversion superstition. This connects the song to a belief system within the camp, that saying the word at the wrong time is associated with bad luck (since missed announcements disrupt routine). The second part of the tradition, throwing the person into the lake or pool, turns it into more of a ritual. Though somewhat of a punishment, it reinforces group norms (don’t say “announcements” casually) within the folk group (campers).