Category Archives: Musical

Ukrainian Lover has been Stood Up Song

Nationality: Former Soviet Union/Ukranian/Russian
Age: 69
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/10/18
Primary Language: Russian
Language: Ukranian

Main Piece: Ukranian Lover’s Song

Original:

Ти казала в понедiлок – пiдем разом по барвiнок. / Я прийшов, тебе нема, пiдманула, пiдвела.

Ти ж мене пiдманула, ти ж мене пiдвела. / Ти ж мене, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Я ж тебе, Я ж тебе, пiдманула, я ж тебе, я ж тебе, пiдвела. / Я ж тебе, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Ти казала у вiвторок – поцiлую разiв сорок. / Я прийшов, тебе нема, пiдманула, пiдвела.

Ти ж мене пiдманула, Ти ж мене пiдвела. / Ти ж мене, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Я ж тебе, Я ж тебе, пiдманула, я ж тебе, я ж тебе, пiдвела. / Я ж тебе, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Ти казала у середу – пiдем разом по череду. / Я прийшов, тебе нема, пiдманула, пiдвела.

Ти ж мене пiдманула, ти ж мене пiдвела. / Ти ж мене, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Я ж тебе, Я ж тебе, пiдманула, я ж тебе, я ж тебе, пiдвела. / Я ж тебе, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Ти казала у четвер – пiдем разом на концерт. / Я прийшов, тебе нема, пiдманула, пiдвела.

Ти ж мене пiдманула, ти ж мене пiдвела. / Ти ж мене, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Я ж тебе, Я ж тебе, пiдманула, я ж тебе, я ж тебе, пiдвела. / Я ж тебе, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Ти казала у п’ятницю – пiдем разом по пшеницю. / Я прийшов, тебе нема, пiдманула, пiдвела.

Ти ж мене пiдманула, ти ж мене пiдвела. / Ти ж мене, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Я ж тебе, Я ж тебе, пiдманула, я ж тебе, я ж тебе, пiдвела. / Я ж тебе, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Ти казала у суботу – пiдем разом на роботу. / Я прийшов, тебе нема, пiдманула, пiдвела.

Ти ж мене пiдманула, ти ж мене пiдвела. / Ти ж мене, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Я ж тебе, Я ж тебе, пiдманула, я ж тебе, я ж тебе, пiдвела. / Я ж тебе, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Ти казала у недiлю – пiдем разом на весiлля. / Я прийшов, тебе нема, пiдманула, пiдвела.

Ти ж мене пiдманула, ти ж мене пiдвела. / Ти ж мене, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Я ж тебе, Я ж тебе, пiдманула, я ж тебе, я ж тебе, пiдвела. / Я ж тебе, молодого, з ума розуму звела.

Phonetic:

Ty kazala v ponedilok – pidem razom po barvinok. / YA pryyshov, tebe nema, pidmanula, pidvela.
Ty zh mene pidmanula, ty zh mene pidvela. / Ty zh mene, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
YA zh tebe, YA zh tebe, pidmanula, ya zh tebe, ya zh tebe, pidvela. / YA zh tebe, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
Ty kazala u vivtorok – potsiluyu raziv sorok. / YA pryyshov, tebe nema, pidmanula, pidvela.
Ty zh mene pidmanula, Ty zh mene pidvela. / Ty zh mene, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
YA zh tebe, YA zh tebe, pidmanula, ya zh tebe, ya zh tebe, pidvela. / YA zh tebe, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
Ty kazala u seredu – pidem razom po cheredu. / YA pryyshov, tebe nema, pidmanula, pidvela.
Ty zh mene pidmanula, ty zh mene pidvela. / Ty zh mene, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
YA zh tebe, YA zh tebe, pidmanula, ya zh tebe, ya zh tebe, pidvela. / YA zh tebe, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
Ty kazala u chetver – pidem razom na kontsert. / YA pryyshov, tebe nema, pidmanula, pidvela.
Ty zh mene pidmanula, ty zh mene pidvela. / Ty zh mene, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
YA zh tebe, YA zh tebe, pidmanula, ya zh tebe, ya zh tebe, pidvela. / YA zh tebe, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
Ty kazala u p’yatnytsyu – pidem razom po pshenytsyu. / YA pryyshov, tebe nema, pidmanula, pidvela.
Ty zh mene pidmanula, ty zh mene pidvela. / Ty zh mene, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
YA zh tebe, YA zh tebe, pidmanula, ya zh tebe, ya zh tebe, pidvela. / YA zh tebe, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
Ty kazala u subotu – pidem razom na robotu. / YA pryyshov, tebe nema, pidmanula, pidvela.
Ty zh mene pidmanula, ty zh mene pidvela. / Ty zh mene, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
YA zh tebe, YA zh tebe, pidmanula, ya zh tebe, ya zh tebe, pidvela. / YA zh tebe, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
Ty kazala u nedilyu – pidem razom na vesillya. / YA pryyshov, tebe nema, pidmanula, pidvela.
Ty zh mene pidmanula, ty zh mene pidvela. / Ty zh mene, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.
YA zh tebe, YA zh tebe, pidmanula, ya zh tebe, ya zh tebe, pidvela. / YA zh tebe, molodoho, z uma rozumu zvela.

Translation:

You told me on Monay – we’ll go together and pick flowers. I came, you weren’t there, you lied, you stood me up.

You lied to me, you stood me up, You’re driving me crazy!

I to you, I to you, I lied, I to you, I to you, stood you up, I’m driving you crazy!

You told me on Tuesday, you’d kiss me forty times. I came, you weren’t there, you lied, you stood me up.

You lied to me, you stood me up, You’re driving me crazy!

I to you, I to you, I lied, I to you, I to you, stood you up, I’m driving you crazy!

You told me on Wednesday, we’ll go together and pick berries. I came, you weren’t there, you lied, you stood me up.

You lied to me, you stood me up, You’re driving me crazy!

I to you, I to you, I lied, I to you, I to you, stood you up, I’m driving you crazy!

You told me on Thrusday, we’ll go to the concert together. I came, you weren’t there, you lied, you stood me up.

You lied to me, you stood me up, You’re driving me crazy!

I to you, I to you, I lied, I to you, I to you, stood you up, I’m driving you crazy!

You told me on Friday, we’ll go collect wheat together. I came, you weren’t there, you lied, you stood me up.

You lied to me, you stood me up, You’re driving me crazy!

I to you, I to you, I lied, I to you, I to you, stood you up, I’m driving you crazy!

You told me on Saturday, we’ll go to work together. I came, you weren’t there, you lied, you stood me up.

You lied to me, you stood me up, You’re driving me crazy!

I to you, I to you, I lied, I to you, I to you, stood you up, I’m driving you crazy!

You told me on Sunday, we’ll go together to the party. I came, you weren’t there, you lied, you stood me up.

You lied to me, you stood me up, You’re driving me crazy!

I to you, I to you, I lied, I to you, I to you, stood you up, I’m driving you crazy!

Background Information:

  • Why does informant know this piece?

She would sing it with her friends when they were young.

  • Where did they learn this piece?

Soviet Union

  • What does it mean to them?

It’s a funny song about a girl who is a tease.

Context:

Often sung at parties, considered a traditional Ukranian folk song.

Personal Thoughts:

This song canbe sung by only women, or by men for half of it and women for the chorus. It is about a man who is constantly stood up by a girl he likes. For every day of the week, the girl promises to go on a date with him, and it drives him crazy that she never comes to the dates she sets up, but he clearly cannot stay away.

This song can be found in a popular Russian/Ukrainian TV Show “Svaty”:

Yakovlev, Andrey, director. Svaty. Kvartal 95 Studio, 2011.

Katyusha Song

Nationality: Former Soviet Union/Ukrainian/Russian
Age: 69
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/10/18
Primary Language: Russian
Language: English
Main Piece:

Original:

Расцветали яблони и груши,/Проплыли туманы над рекой.

Выходила на берег катюша,/На высокий берег на крутой.

Выходила, песню заводила/Про степного сизого орла,

Про того, которого любила,/Про того, чьи письма берегла.

Ой ты, песня, песенка девичья,/Ты лети за дальней далью вслед

И бойцу на дальней пограничной/От катюши передай привет.

Пусть он вспомнит девушку родную,/Пусть услышит, как она поет,

Пусть он землю сбережет родную,/А любовь катюша сбережет.

Phonetic:

Rastsvetali yabloni i grushi,/Proplyli tumany nad rekoy.
Vykhodila na bereg katyusha,/Na vysokiy bereg na krutoy.
Vykhodila, pesnyu zavodila/Pro stepnogo sizogo orla,
Pro togo, kotorogo lyubila,/Pro togo, ch’i pis’ma beregla.
Oy ty, pesnya, pesenka devich’ya,/Ty leti za dal’ney dal’yu vsled
I boytsu na dal’ney pogranichnoy/Ot katyushi pereday privet.
Pust’ on vspomnit devushku rodnuyu,/Pust’ uslyshit, kak ona poyet,
Pust’ on zemlyu sberezhet rodnuyu,/A lyubov’ katyusha sberezhet.

Translation:

Blossomed apples and pears, / Fog flowed over the river.

On the riverbank walked out Katyusha, / On the tall, steep riverbank.

She walked out, and started to sing / About a wild eagle,

About the man that she loves / about the one whose letters she saves.

Oh, you song, song of a young girl / Fly far, far away,

And the the warrior, on the war front, / From Katyusha, bring a greeting.

Let him remember his beloved girl, / Let him hear, how she sings.

Let him guard his home land, / And Katyusha will guard their love.
Background Information:

  • Why does informant know this piece?

She would sing this song a lot as a child.

  • Where did they learn this piece?

Soviet Union

  • What does it mean to them?

It is a song about loving your significant other and your country above all else.
Context:

  • This is a sweet, haunting song that can be sung when feeling sad.
Personal Thoughts:

This is a Soviet Era song that has had the lyrics changed many times by different people who sing it. It may have originally started as an authored song, but each person who sings it changes the lyrics slightly until it mutates over generations.

Clicking Sticks: A Folk Dance

Nationality: Indian American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/27/18
Primary Language: English
Language: Telugu, Hindi, Spanish (kinda)

This is like a dance slash game -um- it’s from like Indian Hindu culture actually like it used to be Hindu, but it’s kind of becoming more of like an Indian thing now -um- and basically you have these sticks. Each person has like two sticks; They’re called Raas (pronounced “Ross”) R-A-A-S -um- and like you, you just go around like hitting your sticks with other people’s sticks and it’s like you, you just like dance around all night like hitting sticks with other sticks and like you’ll make like patterns with your friends and like different complex like dances.

 So like if I have these two sticks and you have yours we could be like 1, 2, 3, turn (gesturing to alternating sides with each count and then spinning around with sticks touching your partners) and then there’s like two lines and they go like opposite ways and like so like I’ll go like… so we both move to our, our left so like after we, I hit your stick three times and turn or whatever then I’ll go to like the person next to you and we’ll do the same thing and we’ll keep going. It’s kinda like a circuit kind of.

Yeah and it’s like it’s around the time so that this whole um dance party thing is called garba -um-… G-A-R-B-A. Um- so -um- yeah and it’s usually in like October November it’s like uhh fall harvest type of thing. Yeah. 

The Informant, one of my classmates, shared the dance of Raas after discussion section. The dance is commonly performed during the Navratri festival alongside a similar and simpler folk dance called Garba. The festival is celebrated to pay respect to the Mother Goddess of the Hindu religion, Shakti. The performance of the dance celebrates the nine incarnations of the goddess.

The Informant told me that she doesn’t remember a time where she didn’t take part in the festivities of Navratri, including the folk dances of Raas and Garba. They’re a part of her life. She doesn’t know who taught them to her or when she first danced. One of the Informant’s favorite parts of the dance is the color. She said it reminds her of Holi, the famous Indian “festival of colors” in which people smear each other with color. By the end, everyone is a vibrant hue. In Navratri, the people begin the festival wearing colorful and vibrant Garba garbs. The dance is rather simple. There are no official steps, but performers click sticks to keep rhythm.

Raas was a traditionally male dominated dance, but has become more inclusive over the years. The two things prominent in Raas are vigor and force, however, a one of passion instead of violence. Raas and Garba are both fast-paced energy-filled dances comprised of two circles, one rotating clockwise and the other counterclockwise.

I loved this account of some of the folk dances cherished in India, but I loved the backstory even more. The fact that these dances have been a part of her life so long that she can’t remember a time that they weren’t present is, in my belief, a true marker of a folk dance that is massively culturally important.  This act is a merging of three areas of folklore. The dance itself, the festival at which it’s performed, and the mythology it celebrates.

For more information on Raas, Garba, and the Navratri festival, see here.

Down Down Baby

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 15
Occupation: High School Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 04/13/2018
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: Down down baby

The following was an interview of a Participant/interviewee about a folk game that is passed around mainly in elementary. She is marked as HT. I am marked as DM.

HT: Down down baby/ Down down the roller coaster/ Sweet sweet baby/ Sweet sweet don’t let me go (cross arms and hit chest 4 times)/ Chimi chimi coco puff chimi chimi riiiide (tucks hair behind ear)/ Chimi chimi coco puff chimi chimi riiiide (tucks hair behind ear)/ I had a baby a biscuit/ He’s so sweet a biscuit/ Apples on the table/ Peaches on the top/ Step out baby I don’t want you anymore/ To the front (jump forwards)/ To the back (jump backwards)/ To the side side side (jump to both sides)/ To the front (jump forwards)/ To the back (jump backwards)/ To the side side side (jump to both sides)

Background/Context:

The participant is fifteen years old in the tenth grade. She grew up in Los Angeles, California, but she has Mexican parents and family. Hailey, who is marked as HT, is my sister. I was at home for my mother’s birthday party on Friday, April 13, 2018, when I overheard my youngest sister playing a hand game with my cousin. I noticed it was the same games I played in elementary, but the lyrics of the game were slightly different. I began to ask her questions about the game. My middle sister, Hailey, got into the conversation. We began to compare our elementary games. In this particular game, the objective was to be able to sing all the words and do the movements with them. This game was mainly to just pass time in recess.

DM: How do you know this?

HT: Um, I uh, I played it in elementary.

DM: Who did you learn the game from?

HT: Uh

DM: Do you remember?

HT: Not the person but I know I learned it from my friends.

DM: Uh, why did you like this game in elementary?

HT: It was catchy it was uh yeah just catchy.

DM: And at that time what did it mean to you? What did the game signify to you?

HT: It was entertaining it distracted me and yeah.

Analysis/ My Thoughts:

While I was in elementary, this “Down down baby” game was very popular during recess when we had enough time to rest but not to play full games like kickball or handball. My sister told me this game was also very popular in her recess. Although they were both similar, the lyrics are different. Today’s version is shown above while the one I did in elementary nine years ago goes as stated: Down down baby/ Down down the roller coaster/ Sweet sweet baby/ Sweet sweet don’t let me go (cross arms and hit chest 4 times)/ Chimi chimi coco puff chimi chimi riiiide (tucks hair behind ear)/ Chimi chimi coco puff chimi chimi riiiide (tucks hair behind ear)/ I have a boyfriend a biscuit/ He’s so sweet a biscuit/ Apples on the table/ Peaches on the floor/ Step out baby I don’t want you anymore/ To the front (jump forwards)/ To the back (jump backwards)/ To the side side side (jump to both sides)/ To the front (jump forwards)/ To the back (jump backwards)/ To the side side side (jump to both sides).

 

Mailman Mailman

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 10
Occupation: Elementary student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 04/13/2018
Primary Language: English

The following was an interview of a Participant/interviewee about a folk game that is passed around mainly in elementary. She is marked as CT. I am marked as DM.

CT: Mailman, Mailman here comes the lady with African booty. She could do the pom pom (arms parallel to the chest and moves them back and forth). She could do the twist twist (moves hips in a circle). Most of all she could kiss kiss kiss (two fingers on lips for every kiss said) with the red hot lips. K-I-S-S-I-N-G (open legs a little for every letter).

Background/Context:

The participant is ten years old in the fifth grade. She grew up in Los Angeles, California, but she has Mexican parents and family. Christine, who is marked as CT, is my sister. I was at home for my mother’s birthday party on Friday, April 13, 2018, when I overheard my sister playing a hand game with my cousin. I noticed it was the same games I played in elementary, but the lyrics of the game were slightly different. I began to ask her questions about the game. In this particular game, the objective was to see who could spread their legs further apart without falling down.

DM: Where did you learn this game?

CT: I learn this from one Roslyn (her friend).

DM: Where did you learn this?

CT: At school.

DM: Do you know where she learned it?

CT: She learned it from Cara.

DM: Why do you like this game?

CT: I like this game because it’s funny and that he is attracted to someone.

DM: What is the meaning of this game to you?

CT: It means to me like, like, like when, like when you wanna make someone laugh you could make them laugh by this game.

Analysis/ My Thoughts:

While I was in elementary, this “Mailman” game was very popular during recess when we had enough time to rest but not to play full games like kickball or handball. My sister told me this game was also very popular in her recess. Although they were both similar, the lyrics are different. Today’s version is shown above while the one I did in elementary nine years ago goes as stated: Mailman, Mailman do your duty. Here comes the lady with the African booty. She can do the pom pom (arms parallel to the chest and moves them back and forth). She can the twist (moves hips in a circle). Most of all she can kiss kiss kiss (two fingers on lips for every kiss said). K-I-S-S (open legs a little for every letter).