Author Archives: Codie Sander

The Magic Potion

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Dog Groomer
Residence: Pomona
Performance Date: 4/23
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

”The ingredients are: apple cider vinegar, lemon, garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper, honey, and hot water. About a class worth for whoever is taking it. You can use it for pretty much anything. Whenever I’m feeling sick I’ll use it; all the ingredients have really good properties, so one of them is bound to help with something. I always use it when I have the flu.”

“My mom would always tell me to drink apple cider vinegar with honey and hot water, for pretty much anything that was wrong with you. I never really liked it like that. One of my friends gave me this recipe. You’d think the extra ingredients would make it taste worse, but they actually make it a lot easier to drink.”

Home remedies are often a popular way of dealing with everyday maladies, especially those which science currently has no “cure” or treatment for. The informant stated that she uses the remedy for a wide variety of ills, with the expectation that one of the ingredients is bound to help somehow. She had originally gotten a variety of the “potion” from her mother; which is common with home remedies. As parents are often a primary source of information while growing up, people have a tendency to retain lessons or advice from them, even as they grow older.

The informant stated that she never enjoyed the taste of her Mom’s remedy, though she would still use it if she got sick. Eventually she heard of the alternate form from a friend; she stated that she liked the flavor of the new formula more, and now uses that as an alternate. This shows an interesting fluctuation in the phenomenon stated above. Though she respected and followed her Mom’s advice for the remedy, she was also willing to change the recipe slightly into one which suited her tastes better. This illustrates how folk remedies can change over time: ingredients can be added (or removed in some cases) in order to better fit the sensibilities or tastes of the new user.

She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain

Nationality: American
Age: 76
Occupation: Teacher
Performance Date: 4/29
Primary Language: English

“She’ll be coming ‘round the mountain when she comes,

She’ll be coming ‘round the mountain when she comes,

She’ll be coming ‘round the mountain,

She’ll be coming ‘round the mountain,

She’ll be coming ‘round the mountain when she comes,

Oh we’ll all go out to meet her when she comes,

Oh we’ll all go out to meet her when she comes,

Oh we’ll all go out to meet her,

Yes, we’ll all go out to meet her,

Oh we’ll all go out to meet her when she comes, hi Babe! (*makes waving motion*)

We’ll all have chicken and dumplings when she comes,

We’ll all have chicken and dumplings when she comes,

We’ll all have chicken and dumplings,

We’ll all have chicken and dumplings,

We’ll all have chicken and dumplings when she comes, Yum-yum! (*rubs stomach*)

We’ll have to sleep with Grandma when she comes,

We’ll have to sleep with Grandma when she comes,

We’ll have to sleep with Grandma,

We’ll have to sleep with Grandma,

We’ll have to sleep with Grandma when she comes, Scoot over!” (*makes nudging motion*)

 

“I probably learned this one from my Dad. It was another one we would always sing in the car, because you can keep adding onto it. We would sang the 10 lines we knew, and then we would take turns making up verses. Our favorites were always the ones with funny gestures!”

As a folk song, this piece both hearkens from a certain point in history, but is fluid enough to change over time (while still retaining enough of the original structure to be recognizable. With this particular song, it seems that much of the joy contained within in the song is focused on the performance of the piece. Though the roots of this song can be traced back to an African-American spiritual about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, it seems to have changed to the point where that is no longer an integral part of the songs meaning. Rather, the song has morphed into what seems to be (at least in the instance) a celebration of family, and the act of family coming together. This can be shown both in the particular lyrics cited above, and it’s typical performance within a family setting.

My Grandma (the informant) stated that her favorite part of the song was the fact that she and her family could easily make up new lines to add onto the song once all the known lines were sung. This focus on collective performance and alteration could also be seen as a family-centric ideal. Singing such a song within the family environment could be viewed as a way to bolster both familial closeness and participation (especially important in my Grandma’s situation; she had 7 siblings).

 

For another form of this song:

Seeger, Pete. American Folk, Game & Activity Songs for Children. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2000.

I’ve Been Working on the Railroad

Nationality: American
Age: 76
Occupation: Teacher
Performance Date: 4/29
Primary Language: English

“I’ve been working on the railroad,

all the live-long day,

I’ve been working on the railroad,

just to pass the time away,

Can’t you hear the whistle blowin’”

rise up so early in the morn’,

can’t you hear the captain shouting

Dinah blow your horn.

Dinah won’t you blow,

Dinah won’t you blow,

Dinah won’t you blow your horn.

Dinah won’t you blow,

Dinah won’t you blow,

Dinah won’t you blow your horn.

Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah,

someone’s in the kitchen I know.

Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah,

strummin’ on the old banjo.

Fee, fie, fiddly-i-o,

fee, fie, fidlly-i-o-o-o-o

Fee, fie, fiddly-i-o,

strummin’ on the ol’ banjo.

“This song is a lot of fun, and is another one I learned at girl’s camp. I like it because you can really add a lot of different things into the song, and keep it going. When I taught 4th and 5th grade, I taught this song to my students while we were learning American history. They all seemed to enjoy it.”

Like other folk songs, it seems that much of the meaning and joy that this song evokes in the performer is it’s adaptability. It can change while still retaining the core identity of the piece. With a song like this, which is deeply routed in American history, this change is important. It allows the song to remain relevant and even novel to later generations, which is crucial to the survivability of a piece of folklore.

The 13th Zodiac

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Performance Date: 4/23
Primary Language: English

”I guess, because of the movement of the stars or something like that, the zodiacs should actually change over time. Which is why there’s supposed to be an extra zodiac in addition to the 12. I have heard that the 13th zodiac is supposed to be an evolved form of Scorpio, something that they move to at a certain level of knowledge. Scorpios are normally fiery, dark, and very sexual. They’re high energy and masculine. How my friend (who is a Scorpio) interpreted this evolution is that Scorpios will lose the negative aspects of these traits and become a better person because of it.”

Belief in the zodiac is something that has fluctuated over time. In recent years, the belief seems to have reemerged strongly. Like all folk beliefs, the iterations and nuances of the belief change over time as they feed into new generations. The above example illustrates how some have constructed an interpretation of the fabled “13th Zodiac”. In this particular instance, some have taken to modifying an existing zodiac to fill the role of the 13th Zodiac.

This modification of the existing Zodiac may be a result of modern culture, in which ideals like enlightenment and self-actualization are held strongly. The person from whom the informant learned about this belief was himself a Scorpio, and found this particular perspective meaningful. This could be born out of a desire to retain the positive traits associated with the sign, while leaving room to grow out of or improve upon the negative ones.

Crystals

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Performance Date: 4/23
Primary Language: English

”There’s a lot of different rock formations from the Earth. I guess the crystals absorb energy from the earth and are supposed to have positive effects. I have a Himalayan pink salt crystal that’s supposed to clear out bad energy, make it drop down towards the floor. It’s supposedly good for allergies and things like that. Different crystals are supposed to affect your chakras. Blue crystals are for the throat chakra, and I think green are for the stomach. Quartz is supposed to amplify your existing characteristics. Tiger eye is supposed to help with lethargy.”

Many believe that crystals have metaphysical properties, and can aid in healing or even improve one’s spiritual wellbeing. The informant had her collection of crystals on hand as she spoke about them, and we examined each one in turn. Crystals are fascinating natural constructs to many people (my grandfather loved to collect and talk about them), and I find the idea that they can have some effect on a persons physical and mental state intriguing, to say the least. Some crystals do have the ability to emit electricity when put under pressure, so while I don’t necessarily know if I place full stock in their alleged abilities, I am also entirely open to entertaining the possibility.