Category Archives: Musical

Russia: Snail Song

Nationality: Russia
Age: 24
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 22 2018
Primary Language: Russian
Language: English and Italian

Informant: There’s this song me and my childhood friends used to sing in order to get a snail to come out of its shell. It went something like “snail snail bring your bull horns out, and go to the puddle and drink warm water and then go to the river and drink cloudy water.” We used it as kind of a game. Like we would go to the garden and find snails and then sing to them. Whoever could get their snail to come out first would win. It was very entertaining and fun. I remember doing this since I was a child and I think I learned the song at the playground in school. 

Analysis: 

I thought this piece of folklore was really cute and relatable. It demonstrates how folk music is often used as a way of entertainment and as a way to create games. It also delineates the social power of folk music. In the informant’s case, it was a way to make friends at school during the playground. Therefore, there is definitely a social factor involved in folk music that creates a sense of community. Furthermore, folk music can also help establish relationships. It it a shared experience, and this example proves that by demonstrating how music transcends and becomes an activity.

I also think it is interesting how the lyrics of the song is coherent with the activity. The point is to get a snail to come out of its shell, and the lyrics reflect such a goal. This would explain why the informant was so specific when explaining when she would sing the song. There is a specific purpose to the song that encourages kids to participate in the ensuing activity.

Mexico: La Papa Caliente

Nationality: Mexico City
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 23 2018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Informant: The following is a song I used to sing as a child with my friends. We would sing this song and play it at school all the time. There was a game that went along with it where you had to hold a potato, or a ball, and pass it around while you sang the song. Whoever had the potato in their hands when the song was over would lose. The song went like this: 

La papa caliente estaba en el sartén 

Tenía mucho aceite, quien se quemo? 

Uno, dos, tres. 

This roughly translates to: 

The hot potato was in the pan 

It had a lot of oil, who got burn? 

One, two, three. 

Analysis: 

This is yet another example of how folk music is often times used to accompany children games. The song being sung has a specific game and action involved with it. Again, we can see how this is used in a social setting and as a way to establish relationships; the informant claims that he would play this with his friends at school. In a way, this song is a game in and of itself.

I find it very interesting that the song uses potatoes. Potatoes are a really big part of people’s diets in Mexico. They can be found anywhere in the city and are a very common ingredient. I wonder if this is why the song makes use of potatoes. Aside from that, I think this song is really cute and funny. I love the idea of a bunch of kids passing each other potatoes and singing a song to see who loses.

Mexico: La Cucaracha

Nationality: Mexico City
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 23 2018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Informant: There is this one song in Mexico that everyone knows and everyone sings. It’s really silly but or some reason its very popular. I have been hearing it all my life and all my friends know it but I think the first person I ever heard it from was my grandmother. She would sing it all the time. The song goes something like this: 

“La cucaracha, la cucaracha 

Ya no puede caminar 

Porque le duele, porque le faltan

Las dos patitas de atrás.”

This roughly translates to this: 

“The cockroach, the cockroach 

Can´t walk 

Because it hurts, because he’s missing 

His both legs from the back.”

Collector: Was there any special ritual or game that went along with singing this song? 

Informant: Not really. I think people would just sing it because it was catchy but there was nothing specifically involved with it.  

Analysis: 

This song seems to be a type of folkloric rhyme that has been passed down through the years. It is interesting that it has no specific meaning or activity involved but is still so popular. That goes to show that folklore thrives on popularity; the more widespread and popular a piece of folklore is, the better chances it has of surviving throughout the years.

I thought that this song was funny and I can understand why such humor would make it so popular. The song is literally about a cockroach that can’t walk because it loses its legs. Even though there isn’t necessarily any meaning to it, it still paints a very vivid image of what is happening. Such imagery is a recurring trend in Mexican folklore; the language gives way to very strong visuals. Such imagery might be part of the song’s appeal.

The informant also mentioned that the first person he ever heard this song from was his grandmother. Moreover, he said that everyone he knew was familiar with the song because of how widespread it was. This would help explain the song’s popularity. If the song is being passed down from parent to child, then it would make sense that the popularity of the song is due to its involvement in family life. In other words, the song may be a source of comfort due to how familiar it is.

There’s No Seder Like our Seder Song

Nationality: Jewish
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

The informant is my film partner (referred to as MR) who has a Jewish mother and was raised Jewish.  This is a song his Jewish grandmother has the family sing before the dinner service of Passover.

There’s No Seder Like our Seder

There’s no seder like our seder,

There’s no seder I know.

Everything about it is Halachic

nothing that the Torah won’t allow.

Listen how we read the whole Haggadah

It’s all in Hebrew

‘Cause we know how.

There’s no Seder like our seder,

We tell a tale that is swell:

Moses took the people out into the heat

They baked the matzoh

While on their feet

Now isn’t that a story

That just can’t be beat?

Let’s go on with the show!

MR: “We sing this song to the tune of “There’s no Business like Show business,” and my grandma had them printed on a twice photocopied piece of paper that she stores in this big bin that only comes out of the closet during Passover. So we all sing this right before the meal of Passover.”

This song is very interesting because it is sung to the tune of a song that is obviously not Jewish which also means that while this is a family tradition this may not be a widespread Jewish cultural tradition. At least this song being sung to the tune of “There’s no Business like Show business,” means that this is not carried down for centuries and is a modern twist on perhaps a more historically grounded Jewish song. The act of singing before a meal is also interesting because it shows the meal is much more of a celebration than other events.

A-ri-rang

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 53
Occupation: Doctor
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 27th, 2018
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English, Mandarin

Song

 

A-ri-rang is a renowned South Korean folk song

Line Original Script Phonetic Script Translation
1 아리랑, 아리랑, 아라리요… A-ri-rang, A-ri-rang, Arariyo…A-ri-rang gogaero neomeoganda

 

 A-ri-rang, A-ri-rang, Arariyo…You are going over A-ri-rang hill

 
2 아리랑 고개로 넘어간다  A-ri-rang go-gae-ro neom-eo-gan-da  You are going over A-ri-rang hill 
3 나를 버리고 가시는 님은  Na-reul beo-ri-go ga-shi-neun nim-eun  My love, you are leaving me 
4 십리도 못가서 발병난다. Shim-ri-do mot-ga-seo bal-byeong-nan-da. Your feet will be sore before you go ten li.
5 청천하늘엔 잔별도 많고 Cheong-cheon-han-eur-en jan-byeol-do man-ko Just as there are many stars in the clear sky,
6 우리네 가슴엔 희망도 많다. Uri ne ga-seum-en hui-mang-do man-ta.  There are also many dreams in our heart. 
7 저기 저 산이 백두산이라지 Jeo-gi jeo san-i Baek-du-san-i-ra-ji There, over there, that mountain is Baekdu Mountain,
8 동지 섣달에도 꽃만 핀다. Dong-ji seot-dar-e-do kkot-man- pin-da. Where, even in the middle of winter days, flowers bloom.

 

 

Context

 

The performer, my mother, heard of A-ri-rang the same way as I did: through the mother singing it to the child since youth. Despite many beliefs of the origin of the song, for my mother, the song was learnt through my grandmother, who lived through the Korean war in the Gangwon province as a child. My mother told me that A-ri-rang has special significance for my maternal side of the family as during the fearful times of the war, my then young grandmother would sing the song with others in order to feel hopeful and feel the bond with those in the same dreadful situation.

During my studies in Shanghai, China, my grandmother visited during the Chinese New Year period. During these times, those celebrating the holiday sets off tremendous amounts of fireworks. In the evening, while the rest of the family were enjoying the sight of the fireworks in the sky, my grandmother told us that the sound of the fireworks reminded her of the times of the Korean War.

 

Analysis

 

According to The Dual Career of “A-ri-rang”: The Korean Resistance Anthem That Became a Japanese Pop Hit by E. Taylor Atkins, A-ri-rang was a resistance anthem during the Japanese Colonization of South Korea of 1910 to 1945. It is famous for being sang during the famous March 1st demonstration against Japan in 1919 (known as 삼일절/ Sam-il Jeol/ Three-one day).

When looking into the meaning of the song, it can be clearly seen as why it was chosen as the resistance anthem. In the second line, “You are going over A-ri-rang hill” symbolizes one going through hardship, which in this case is Japan colonizing South Korea. Those “Leaving” in the third line refers to those leaving the South Korean side to the Japanese. “Your feet will be sore before you go ten li” means that they will not go far and “ten li” here is four kilometers in distance. The sixth line mentions having “dreams in the heart” while dream in this case is more close to hope in literal translation. This hope is the hope of one day being free from the Japanese oppression. And Finally, the eighth line, “Where, even in the middle of winter days, flowers bloom” refers that even during the struggle, they will fight through and they will succeed.

Although I had heard the song many times before, my mother mentioning this context that was relevant not only to my grandmother, but everyone in her generation, made the performance of the song in my opinion more poignant.