Category Archives: Musical

Poison (Folk Song)

 

 Charlie was a fiddle player, the best there was around
He and his fiancee were at the picnic ground
Charlie and his band would play the dance that summer night
But deep inside his heart he felt that something wasn’t right

His sister said, “You better keep an eye upon your girl
Rumor has it she’s been giving someone else a whirl.”
So Charlie had decided to spy on his bride-to-be
But never was he prepared to see what he would see

CHORUS:
Her love was poison
Her love was poison
She ran around with other boys and
Her love was poison 

He spotted her behind the bar in another’s hands 
The man he saw was Earl who played guitar in Charlie’s band 
Blood red sunset fell upon the couple’s dark embrace
And cast a long and desperate shadow over Charlie’s face

When that night he took the stage
Sadness mixed with jealous rage
Charlie gazed upon the crowd
Raised his voice, clear and loud 
What I fear has come to pass
In his hand a poison glass 
He swallowed it underneath the moon
And said, “I’m playing my farewell tune.” 

CHORUS 

As the last note died away, the fiddler did the same
They put him in an old pine box
With nails they sealed his fame
The summer sun in poison soon made his body swell
The casket nearly burst apart
And put forth quite a smell 

A green fly swarmed around and followed Charlie all the way
To the little meadow where forever he would lay 
And dream of fiddles, fiancees, and that fateful night
When Charlie played his farewell tune
Beneath the pale moonlight 

My informant is from the Republic, Missouri, where he comes from an enormous family of “Ozark Hillbillies” (as they refer to themselves) for generations. His entire extended family lives in the area, and together make up three separate family folk bands (and one huge family folk band, when they get together.) The family’s musical inclinations have gone back for generations. The bands are currently made up of my informant and his cousins, all generally between 20 and 50, and each of their parents had been in the bands before that. As they have children, they join the bands too (My informant has a six-year-old daughter who performs with the family from time to time.)

This song is from my informant’s family, and it has been passed down for at least three generations.  It is supposedly based on a true story of a family member from years past. In the YouTube clip included, it is being played by my informant’s cousin’s band, but everyone in the entire extended family knows it, and they sing it whenever they’re together in any group.

Norwegian Nursery Rhyme

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: ~70
Occupation: Painting Teacher
Residence: Altadena, CA
Performance Date: April 8, 2012
Primary Language: English

The informant related an activity she did with her children.

When I was a real little girl, My grandpa used to put me on his foot like this and hold my hand. [She crosses her legs at the knee and holds her hands at about knee level as though holding the hands of a toddler.] He was Norwegian and he would sing: “Ah ria ria runken. Hasta netta blunken” [phonetic transcription] [She mimes bouncing the child every other syllable.] I have know idea what it means.

I find it interesting that the informant remembers and passes on this piece of folklore despite not knowing even what it means because, even though she does not speak Norwegian, she is sentimentally attached to the rhyme.

Rain Song

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Portland, Or
Performance Date: 4/21/12
Primary Language: English

Growing up in Portland, Oregon, my fellow schoolmates and I were used to seeing rainy days throughout most of the year. My informant here, a fellow elementary school student of mine, remembers that every time that we would have recess in elementary school (1st through 5th grade), we would sing a song to make the rain go away:

“Rain Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day.

We Want to Play Outside, Come Again Another Day”

He remembers, we would sing this song essentially every day that it rained. Of course, the weather would only clear up very rarely, and most likely not due to our singing of this song. Nevertheless, on the rare occasion that the rain would stop soon after, we would all attribute it to the magic of the song and we would all vehemently defend its legitimacy. On days where it wouldn’t work, we would often attribute it to our lack of singing it correctly or not enough people to make it work, etc. My informant remembers days where we would be sad or he would even cry because the song didn’t work. He remembered thinking that he was the ‘special piece’ of the puzzle, and knew that the song wouldn’t work if he weren’t there. He thought that his friends needed him for the song to be successful.

I believe that this song is mostly known around rainy and wet areas where it would likely be utilized and passed along more often and efficiently, such as Portland. I think it may have some relation to a variety of rain dances that were used centuries ago to have rain fall to nourish the crops. I believe it is a more recent rendition as children saw the rain dance, and believed that if one could make it rain, then they could sing to stop it.

Folk Rhyme – Star Light, Star Bright

Nationality: American
Age: 35
Occupation: Photographer
Residence: Seattle, Washington
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian

“Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.”

 

While waiting for a Fourth of July fireworks show, my informant first heard this rhyme from her mother, who taught it to her and told her to watch for the first star.  My informant recalls being restless and was likely annoying her parents, so her mother probably taught her the rhyme to keep her busy looking for the first star until the show began.  My informant distinctly remembered her mother telling her that you must first see the star, then recite the rhyme, and only then could she make a wish.  If she did not follow that order, the wish would not come true.  When she finally saw a star in the sky, she recited the rhyme and wished that her pets at home would be ok and that the loud fireworks nearby would not scare them.

My informant suggested that this rhyme is simple and is likely to be shared only between children and the parents of those children.  She also believes that many parents likely use this rhyme to quiet their children before they go to bed.  If they’re preoccupied looking out the window for a star, they’re not making a fuss.  It’s interesting to note that this rhyme also operates as a superstition, because it details how one can make a wish.  My informant is not completely sure of whether or not the rhyme or the superstition came first, but imagines that the superstition came first and the originator of the rhyme took the details of the wish and made them rhyme.  My informant tried to remember if an improper recitation of the rhyme has any impact on a wish, but she doesn’t believe one needs to say the rhyme correctly for their wish to come true.  As long as someone sees the first star in the sky, performs the rhyme, and make a wish, in that order, the wish is likely to come true.

There are several interesting aspects of this rhyme that can be analyzed to gain an understanding to why it is still being passed down from generation to generation.  First, wishing this way means you can only wish once per day, and this limit is likely to make a wisher more sincere in their requests.  Also, the lines, “I wish I may, I wish I might,” suggest that the star that is being wished upon is of a higher authority and can permit and deny the wishes it chooses.  This superstition is unique because it suggests that a wish may or may not be granted, while most superstitions indicate exactly what is to occur.  There is no guarantee this wish will be granted, so one must have faith that by performing the rhyme, their wish will be granted more likely than if they had not.

I have lived in Los Angeles County my entire life, and my personal opinion is that it’s considerably difficult to wish upon a star because the first star cannot be seen through the smog.  Also, with all of the planes and satellites in the sky, it can sometimes be tedious to find a star among bright objects in the sky.  For this reason, children may be performing the rhyme less frequently nowadays.  Also, the rhyme says I should wish on, “the first star I see tonight,” but I’ve heard that for the wish to come true, the wish must be made when there is only one visible star in the entire sky.  This prevents you from walking outside at midnight and making any star wishing star.  This version instills patience, and makes your wish mean something, because you have to wait for the perfect moment when there is only one visible star.

Cielito Lindo

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Claremont, California
Performance Date: February 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

SourceURL:file://localhost/Volumes/HP%20V125W/SP%2007%20FL&PC%20COLLECTS/Scheffler/1.%20Spanish%20Folksong.doc

“Cielito Lindo”

Ay, ay ay ay
Cantar no llores
Porque Cantando se alegran,
Cielito lindo,
Los corazones

Translation:

Ay, ay ay ay
Sing and don’t cry
Because singing, my Beautiful Heaven,
Gladdens the heart

 

My informant first learned this song as a child, when his father would sing it to him as a lullaby.   His father is Mexican and his mother is Caucasian, and he was traditionally raised in the American sense, learning English and not Spanish.  In fact, the only Spanish he knows is this Mexican folksong, and he is not able to translate it.  He sings this song when he’s bored, to break an awkward silence, and just to be obnoxious.  In fact, he once removed the last three lines with “Please leave a mess-age/and I’ll get back to you/as soon as I ca-an” and used the song as his phone’s voicemail message.

While it may seem pointless to recite the folksong considering he does not even know what the lyrics stand for, my informant believes the song is his only link to that part of his heritage, and when he sings it, he feels closer to his dad and that part of his family tree.  He believes that it used by others for the very same reason, to connect with the history of their ancestors.

When translated, the song is about how singing will protect your heart from sorrow.  In Mexican tradition, Cielito Lindo represents a lovely stranger.