Category Archives: Musical

There’s No Seder Like our Seder

Leave a reply
Nationality: American
Age: 76
Residence: FL
Performance Date: April 11
Primary Language: English
Language: Yiddish

Informant is grandmother, currently living in Florida having lived most of her life in New Jersey. The following is printed on a series of old, twice-photocopied documents which she stores in a closet in a large bin. These are a familiar sight for the family during Passover, in which the entirety of the song is sung together before beginning with the dinner service.

 

There’s No Seder Like our Seder

(sung to the tune of “There’s no Business like Show business”)

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!

 

Of course this song is not traditional jewish canon, as it’s inspired by the song “There’s no Business like Show business.” Somewhere down the line, at a time she does not remember, these papers were copied and it was decided to sing it before opening the Hagaddah (Passover prayerbook read at dinner). I think this song, to her, is a fun family activity which gets all ages singing together and warmed up for the night.

La Societa dei Magnaccioni

Nationality: Italian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/26/17
Primary Language: Italian
Language: English

Subject: Folk Song

Informant: Guido was born in Rome, Italy in a traditional Italian family. He currently studies business in California and plays rugby for his college team.

Original Script:

Fatece largo che passamo noi,
sti giovanotti de sta Roma bella,
semo regazzi fatti cor pennello,
e le regazze famo innamorà.
e le regazze famo innamorà.
Ma che ce frega, ma che ce importa,
se l’oste ar vino c’ha messo l’acqua,
e noi je dimo, e noi je famo,
c’hai messo l’acqua, e nun te pagamo, ma però,
noi semo quelli, che ja risponnemo n’coro,
è mejo er vino de li Castelli
che de sta zozza società.

Background information by informant: It’s probably the most popular roman folklore song. The song is primarily about the roman youth and its purity and spontaneity in the eyes of society. Additionally, it glamorizes Rome, establishing its superiority over the north of Italy.

Context of performance: We generally sing it in circumstances of victory, such as winning a rugby game against a team from a different city.

Thoughts: It is interesting to see how even within a country, there are different aspects of folklore that individualize certain regions of the country and exclude those outside of that group. This song is even more prominent in Rome because it is written in the specific roman dialect, causing a greater attatchment to the piece of folklore by locals.

Spanish Lullaby

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/22/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Background Information: Shawn Barnes is a Junior at college, and his family is Mexican on his mother’s side. I interviewed him about a Spanish lullaby that he remembers his mother singing to him at night as a child.

Original (Spanish):

“A la roro niño

A lo roro ya

Duérmete mi niño

Duérmete mi amor.

Este niño lindo

Que nació de mañana,

Quiere que lo lleven

A pasear en carcacha.

Este niño lindo

Que nació de día

Quiere que lo lleven

A la dulcería

Este niño

Que nació de noche

Quiere que lo lleven

A pasear en coche.

Este niño lindo

Se quiere dormir,

Y el pícaro sueño

No quiere venir.

Este niño lindo

Que nació de noche

Quiere que lo lleven

A pasear en coche.”

Translation:

“Lullaby baby

Lullaby now.

Sleep my baby,

Sleep my love.

This pretty baby

Who was born in the morning,

Wants to be taken

For a jalopy ride.

This sweet baby

Who was born during the day,

Wants to be taken

To the candy shop.

This pretty baby

Who was born at night,

Wants to be taken

For a stroller ride.

This pretty baby

Wants to sleep

But the naughty sleep

Doesn’t want to come.

This pretty baby

Who was born at night,

Wants to be taken

For a stroller ride.

Shawn: “So, it’s a way to like, put a child to sleep and then say all these good things about them. And then oftentimes my mom would like to rush it a little bit, because I’d go like, ‘Mom can you sing “La Roro”, and so she’d just like rush through one verse and say ‘se acabó’, or like “it’s over, go to sleep.” But like, I still remember her tucking me in and it was sort of a cute thing.”

Thoughts: Lullabies are interesting, and I have found that they often stick in people’s memories, even if it is in a vague form, perhaps because they are repetitive and musical. This lullaby seems to be meant for encouraging a child to go to sleep, while also showing the child love and talking about sweet and pleasant things. Perhaps this is an attempt to ensure pleasant dreams for the child as well.

Colombian Nursery Rhyme

Nationality: Colombian
Age: 22
Residence: Los Angeles, Mexico, Colombia
Primary Language: Spanish

Type: Folk Nursery Rhyme

  1. “Sana que sana, colita de rana si no sanas hoy sanarás mañana.” Translation from Spanish to English: “Heal, heal, little frog’s bottom, if you don’t heal today, you’ll heal tomorrow.”
  2. I obtained this piece of folklore from my friend Daniela. Daniela was born and partially raised (only for a couple years) in the country of Columbia, in the city of Bogota. Since she spent a significant part of her childhood in Columbia, she remembers fondly this nursey rhyme. She was told this by her parents, friends of her parents, teachers, and other adults in her life. When appropriate and applicable, Daniela still sings the rhyme in her head, even if the listener is not Columbian or speaks Spanish. The translation from Spanish to English was provided by Daniela, who is multilingual.
  3. This rhyme has a specific role in Columbian life and culture. It is said whenever a child or young falls down and/or hurt themselves in the process. According to Daniela, this rhyme is one of the first thing you learn as a child. It is normal for adults to say this to children anywhere and jokingly to teens or adults under the age of 50. This is not just something said on the playground or at school, it is said anywhere, but only when children fall to the ground. It would also be rude to say this when older people (over the age of 50) fall.
  4. I really enjoy this short little rhyme. In American society we have similar sayings, such as “kaboom!” Clearly the Columbian version is longer, but what is interesting about this is that, according to Daniela, the saying is widely known by Columbians, especially since it is something learned during childhood. The rhyme is apart of the Columbian identity which is very special.

The Unitarian Universalist Church

Nationality: Scottish-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Milton, MA
Performance Date: 3/25/17
Primary Language: English

Context: Gathered from one of my roommates once he found out about my collection project.

Background: My roommate has never had a set religious background, and was always in something of a melting pot of faiths when he went to churches like the one described here.

Dialogue: So, I don’t know exactly how Unitarianism, like, started, but… At some point it was just this sort of culmination of, like, various Christian sects, like Episcopalian or Protestant or whatever was around Massachusetts going on. Just a bunch of them sort of, like, coalesced into one group that’s like… “You know what, Trinity or Unity, doesn’t matter! We all have spirit!”

Analysis: The intereseting thing about this piece of folklore to me is how much is blended together in a church like this. It’s not only a mixing of various religious sects, either: at one point, my roommate sang a song he was taught as a kid, about the “Seven Guiding Principles of Kindness.” He remembers only these lines:

One, each person is important
Two, be kind in all you do

The song, interestingly enough, is set to the tune of “Do-Re-Mi” fromthe mucial The Sound of Music. So we have a mashup of popular culture, religion, and folk belief, all in this single church.