Author Archives: Carly

Ghost Bride

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Participant – “We were staying at a lake place, and I was really little so my parents were there staying upstairs, and my dad like heard someone knocking around in the kitchen and my dad like got up, went down stairs, because he thought it was like one of us like Reid, my oldest brother had like gone downstairs and was out of bed. So, he goes downstairs and he sees a woman in like a white wedding dress sitting at the kitchen table and then gets up and like walks around the kitchen and my dad freaked out so he like… he like tried to say something to her like thought she was a real person, and then he went upstairs and like freaked out. Then the next night he heard it again but he was so freaked out he wouldn’t go downstairs, and I guess the house is haunted, like…it’s known that house is haunted.”

Context:

My friends and I were discussing the different ghost stories that we have encountered over our lives or any personal encounters with the supernatural. The participant shared this ghost story with us.

Background: 

The participant was born in and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and is currently a second semester freshman at the University of Southern California. She is a Law, History, and Culture major with a minor in Art History. This ghost story was experienced by the participants father than passed on to her.         

Analysis:

I find this ghost story to be very scary because it came from one of my closest friend’s father adding to the personal connection it has to me making it much more believable. In this story, we see another very common figure in ghost stories, a woman in a white dress. However, in this situation the women is tied to the house in some way. Originally the participants father lacked belief in the supernatural but after this encounter his opinions were vastly changed.

El Pez Muere

Nationality: Columbian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Main Piece:

Participant – “Growing up my mom’s always been very out there and has always expressed her opinion through her fashion and through what she wears and everything, so she’s always been very out there, she doesn’t care what people thing but she’s always told me that you have to be careful what you say because, essentially in Spanish you say…

 

‘el pez muere por la boca’

 

…which means ‘the fish dies through the mouth’ which is kind of like think before you speak and watching what you say. She’s always said you don’t want to do things to other people that you don’t want to be done to you. Like taking everyone into consideration and essentially like don’t be a mean person, and just thinking about everything before you say it.”

Context:

I asked the participant and some friends if they grew up hearing any common proverbs or life lessons from the people around them. The participant shared this with me after some of our other friends shared proverbs as well.

Background:

The participant has grown up in many parts of the world, she was originally born in Columbia but moved to the California Bay Area and grew up there until she was 12. After that, her family moved to Paris, France where she went to high school until at age 16 her family moved to Hong Kong. Now the participant is a second semester student at the University of Southern California in the School of Dramatic Arts. Both of her parents were born in Columbia and her family goes back every Christmas and Summer. This proverb has been told to the participant her entire life by her mother and it has always stuck with her.          

Analysis:

Proverbs are a simple and easy way to share and remember life lessons. Extensive meaning is packed into a little phrase that can effortlessly be passed from person to person. The participant learned this proverb from her mom making it more personal and leaving a lasting impression. The participant now utilizes this message in her day to day life, the way proverbs are intended to be thought of.

Columbian Drinking Chant

Nationality: Columbian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Main Piece: 

Participant – “In Columbia we would um… we would have a… like in Christmas we would drink a lot like in December, in the summer like it’s just a social thing and everyone…to gather around everyone knows this one chant, which is…

 

‘Pa’riba, pa’bajo, pa’centro, pa’dentro’

 

…which essentially, it rhymes, and it means ‘up, down, to the middle, and then in’ so like you would all, like everyone would put their glasses up and put their hand up, hand down, and then you would cheers in the middle and then just down it, and I don’t know it’s just always been like even if the moods down a little bit, once one person starts it, it just brings the whole party up and like the atmosphere just completely gets like super hype.”

Context:

The participant shared this chant with me after another one of our friends showed us a drinking song that everyone sang at home. Even though the participant is no longer in Columbia I have still seen her do this chant here and teach it to friends, sharing the tradition.

Background:

The participant has grown up in many parts of the world, she was originally born in Columbia but moved to the California Bay Area and grew up there until she was 12. After that, her family moved to Paris, France where she went to high school until at age 16 her family moved to Hong Kong. Now the participant is a second semester student at the University of Southern California in the School of Dramatic Arts. Both of her parents were born in Columbia and her family goes back every Christmas and Summer. This chant is common knowledge among all of the participants family and is common all over Columbia.           

Analysis:

Although this could be seen as just a drinking chant, the importance comes through in the meaning it holds to the participants. They all find it to be a common source of bonding and it helps them feel more connected in social situations. This is common with many drinking songs as it creates a sense of togetherness and makes you feel part of a group.

Recesses Pieces

Nationality: White/Indian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Participant – “So, we would always sing at recess in California the song that goes…

 

‘Brick wall waterfall

girl you think you know it all

you don’t, I do

so boom with that attitude

recesses pieces, 7-up

you mess with me, I’ll mess you up’

 

…and a lot of people have different endings to that”                

Context:

The participant was in my room with a few of my other friends, we discussed the games we used to play as kids. She shared this common song from her childhood that the girls would often sing to one another while playing games.

Background:

The participant was born in the California Bay Area and grew up there until she was 8. Her family then moved to Minnetonka Minnesota where she lived until she moved to Los Angeles to join the University of Southern California’s class of 2021. The participant has a half White and half Indian background. This folk song was passed onto the participant by other girls in her elementary school, almost every girl in school knew the song.          

Analysis:

The participant shared this song and my friends and I all knew the beginning of it but had different variations for the ending. This often happens with folk music, it has a similar base and tone, but can have big differences from place to place. This song varied from friend group to friend group and as kids you could tell if someone went to your school based on what version of the song they knew.

Bille

Nationality: White/Indian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Original:

“ek billee aaya

khaana kha

doodh pee liya

jao jao jao”

 

Rough Translation:

“one cat came

food ate

milk drank

go go go”

 

Participant – “So, when I was little my grandpa, who is from India, and he speaks Hindi would come and visit us and he would always tell us little nursery rhymes and a lot of them I don’t remember but I remember this one because he did it every single time. So like he would have me put my hand out and like as he would say it, he would fold each of my fingers down and in the part where it’s talking about…where it’s like go go go, the cat’s walking he would walk his fingers up my arm, like really slowly and suspensefully and then like tickle my armpit and every single time I thought it was hilarious and I would start laughing, and I didn’t even know what it meant, I just thought it was fun.”

Context:

I asked the participant if she had grown up with any songs or nursery rhymes that had stuck with her or that she could still remember. She immediately knew there was one she loved as a child about a cat and after some time recalled it and shared it with me. 

Background:

The participant was born in the California Bay Area and grew up there until she was 8. Her family then moved to Minnetonka Minnesota where she lived until she moved to Los Angeles to join the University of Southern California’s class of 2021. The participant has a half White and half Indian background. This nursery rhyme was passed on to the participant by her grandpa.      

Analysis:

Nursery rhymes hold deep importance in our personal lives as we grew up with them being engrained in us. Though these vary from family to family there are most often common strands between them all. Typically, within a family all of the kids share the knowledge of the songs with their siblings. Nursery rhymes often offer some sort of meaning or lesson that can be taken away but often times kids are too little to understand. In this situation, the participant was too young to be aware of the messages but the importance came from the strong bond it helped form between her and her grandfather and the positive memories it left her with.