Author Archives: Sarah Tillery

Theatre Chant: Eat the Babies

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student, Journalist; Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA; Boston, MA
Performance Date: April 29th, 2014
Primary Language: English

Two Informants told me of this theatre tradition, meant to prepare the cast and amp them up before the show. The cast gathers around in a circle, wrapping their arms around their neighbor’s shoulders, and begin chanting very fast:

We’re gonna rape, kill, pillage, and burn, we’re gonna rapekillpillageandburn (eat the babies!)

They will alternate between whispering and then shouting or screaming the chant until they feel adequately prepared for the show.

Neither Informant, one male and the other female, liked this chant very much. They found that their friends had more fun participated in this chant more than they did, and they chose to not participate themselves, despite participating in other theatre chants and traditions.

A different chant “My Acka Backa” was much preferred by my female informant, as it was much less lyrically violent. Both rhymes are fairly similar in what they achieve, and in how they are physically practiced. The difference is simply in the aggressive the lyrics are, as opposed to these fairly sexual lyrics, though the actions performed and the volume of singing is both equally aggressive.

The Curse of the Billy Goat

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Musician, Tutor
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 29th, 2014
Primary Language: English

My Informant was very excited to tell this story too, as he used to be from Chicago, and is a big Cubs fan. As he was telling it, he was both very serious, and also laughing at himself, but it was clear that the story meant a lot to him:

Informant, low important tones with spurts of laughter: The curse of the billy goat relates to the Chicago Cubs, one of the two baseball teams in the city. They haven’t won a World Series since 1908 and haven’t even appeared in one since 1945. During that 1945 series the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, a local burger place (famous for being the basis of the SNL “cheezeborger” sketch in the 70s [laughter]), tried to enter Wrigley Field with his pet goat. The goat had a ticket but was still denied entry so the owner said that the Cubs would never win another world series. And they haven’t! [More laughter and pretend sadness].

Informant’s  excitement over stories about the origins of his town and his favorite sports team from his home town, indicate what it really important to him, and perhaps to other Chicagoans. He was not as excited about a ghost story more typically associated with the roads around his town and neighborhood than the stories about Chicago itself. To be a Chicagoan, or to be a Cubs fan, is clearly a larger identity than simply to be someone who lives in a city, or a specific suburb.

The CheezeBorger Sketch in question can be found here and the Billy Goat Tavern’s website has their own version of the story of the curse here.

The Billy Goat Tavern. “The Billy Goat Curse: Let the Goat In!.”  http://www.billygoattavern.com/legend/curse/ (accessed April 30, 2014).

Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Musician, Tutor
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 29th, 2014
Primary Language: English

Informant, originally from Chicago, excitedly sat up from couch to tell this story:

Informant: Ok! So Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow is allegedly responsible for the Great Chicago Fire which happened in 1871. Basically all of the downtown and a bit of the north side burned down completely because all of the buildings were made of wood. [Gesticulating wildly to indicate the massive disaster, then bends closer to whisper next part.] No one knows what started the fire but the legend is that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern. [Then excitedly] There are songs about it and everything!

Informant’s excitement over stories about the origins of his town and his favorite sports team from his home town, indicate what it really important to him, and perhaps to other Chicagoans. He was not as excited about a ghost story more typically associated with the roads around his town and neighborhood than the stories about Chicago itself. To be a Chicagoan, or to be a Cubs fan, is clearly a larger identity than simply to be someone who lives in a city, or a specific suburb.

One song, as indicated by the Informant, about Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow can be found on this website the Informant showed me:

Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow (lyrics, music, and their variations, heard here).

The Informant indicated that the second set of lyrics, starting with “5 Nights Ago” was the one he was most familiar with.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: Kid’s Pages. “Old Mother Leary (or “There’ll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”).” . http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/songs/childrens/hottimemp3.htm (accessed April 29, 2014).

Resurrection Mary

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Musician, Tutor
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 29th, 2014
Primary Language: English

Informant, speaking in low tones, holding hands out, but still relaxed: There’s a ghost named Resurrection Mary who is supposed to haunt the road near a graveyard on the southwest side of Chicago [Gesturing in a Direction]. Apparently, she died on her way to prom so what you see is a young girl in a prom dress [Gestures to Body and Ground] hitchhiking near the cemetery.

Author: That’s awesome! So have you ever seen her?

Informant, nonchalantly shaking head: Nope. Never.

Author: So when would you hear this story or when did you hear this story first? Did it ever scare you?

Informant, shrugging: My mom has told me about it a few times. It didn’t ever scare me but that’s probably because I didn’t hear it ’til I was a bit older.

Informant was notably not as excited about this story, as the next stories he shared. Informant’s excitement over stories about the origins of his town and his favorite sports team from his home town, indicate what it really important to him, and perhaps to other Chicagoans. He was not as excited about this ghost story more typically associated with the roads around his neighborhood than the stories about Chicago itself. To be a Chicagoan, or to be a Cubs fan, is clearly a larger identity than simply to be someone who lives in a city, or a specific suburb.

Resurrection Mary, though, is a popular story, and has been made into a film twice:

Resurrection Mary [2005]. Film. Directed by Michael Lansu. Aurora, IL: Maxim Media International, 2005.

Resurrection Mary [2007]. Film. Directed by Sean Michael Beyer. Beverly Hills, CA: Entertaiment Studios Home Entertainment, 2007.

The Nian, The Big Dog That Lives In the Sky

Nationality: Chinese American
Age: 20-22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 29th, 2014
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

My informant told me this story while trying to harken back to other stories from her childhood, after remembering festivals that she used to attend.

Uuh. There were a lot more other stories but I can’t really remember any in detail… [Pause, tapping pen.]

Oh! I remember my grandma telling me that there’s this big dog called Nian in the sky that eats the moon every month and spits it back out again, and that’s why the moon changes shape.

The Nian also tries to eat the sun every year, so that’s why Chinese people make a lot of noise [Gestures and makes woo sound, then laughs] and set off firecrackers and stuff in the streets, so they scare away the Nian and the sun comes up again the next year.

She said that she liked this story a great deal when she was a child and was not afraid of Nian.

It is interesting to me that both these stories (this and the lotus flower) show how family oriented these festivals are, without offering much detail about the actual festival. What shows their familial nature is her memory of family, specifically.