Category Archives: Musical

Mexican Boy Scouts song

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 48
Occupation: Pediatric Oncologist
Residence: San Francisco, CA
Performance Date: March 15, 2014
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

My informant is my father, a 48 year old pediatric oncologist at Stanford University. He is bilingual, binational and bicultural, born to a white American father and a Mexican mother. He grew up in both countries but spent his formative adolescent years in Mexico City, where he joined the Mexican Boy Scouts or “los escouts” as he calls them. It was there that he learned this joke from a fellow Escout, who he is still good friends with today.

He performs this piece of folklore frequently, usually in the presence of children—before, when my sister and I were little, he would teach it to us when we were camping, and now, since we’re older, he usually does it around our younger cousins, especially around mealtimes.

Here is the song:

“Queremos comer!
Sangre coagulada
revuelta en ensalada
higado encebollado
de sapo reventado
y de postre!
Helado con caquita de venado!!”

Translation:

We want to eat!

Coagulated blood

Mixed up in a salad

Onion-fried liver

of a scrambled frog

and for dessert!

Ice cream with little deer poops!

This little song has gone from being a piece of his adolescence to being passed on to our generation, so it means a lot to him as both a part of his past, and a reminder of old friendships, as well as a part of his family life now. He uses it to bond now with his younger relatives over the humorous idea of such a disgusting meal, and to reconnect, I think, with his inner child.

There’s a Daisy on my Toe

Nationality: White
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Huntington Beach, CA
Performance Date: 4/28/14
Primary Language: English

There’s a Daisy on my Toe

Personal Background:

Jack is a sophomore at California State University, Long Beach and is studying aerospace engineering. He is part of the Air Force branch of ROTC and is from Huntington Beach, California. He has grown up in a family that is also from southern California, and he considers himself someone who has a lot of “American values.”

Folk Song:

            “There’s a Daisy on my toe/ It is not real, it does not grow./ It’s just a tattoo of a flower/ So I look good taking a shower/ It’s on the second toe of my left foot./ If you ask me it looks real good./ There’s a daisy on my toe/ It is not real, it does not grow.”

This is a song Jack learned when he was at Camp Shalom in the Santa Monica Mountain Institute in Santa Monica, California for his AP Environmental Science Class. This is a song that the camp counselor taught his group one day when they were on a hike so they could pass the time. It was a song only his hiking group knew, and when everyone would get together, his group would sing the song the other groups did not know. Even though it was only taught to his group, he calls them “The Sunshine Bears,” other people from other groups said they had heard the song at other camps.

To Jack, this song is a reminder of his friends, The Sunshine Bears, he had while he was at camp. He was able to have this connection with only his group, and it is something he is able to take with him. It brings him a sense of happiness that he had a great time at the camp, and he also loves the fact he was able to mock the other groups who did not know the song.

Analysis:

What makes “Daisy on my Toe” a folk song is the fact that it is not copyrighted. It is something that is made for young kids to sing and have fun with. It has a simple enough rhythm that is slow, and has very simple lyrics, making so anyone can learn it. It is the perfect for children. It is part of a culture that is surrounded by camp and young kids, yet they do not need to know anything about the song to enjoy it the most. To me, it was a way Jack was able to feel like a kid again, even though he was in high school. He was able to be weird and crazy in the Sunshine Bear group. A song about a daisy tattoo can have a much deeper connection that originally thought.

Tusk

Nationality: White
Age: 53
Occupation: Admissions for University of Southern California
Residence: Huntington Beach, CA
Performance Date: 4/28/14
Primary Language: English

Tusk

Personal Background:

My mom works in admissions for a university. She grew up in Palos Verdes, California where her father was a dentist known throughout her entire community. She now lives in Huntington Beach with her family.

University Traditions:

When my mom was a junior at the University of Southern California, the band Fleetwood Mac came out with the song Tusk. What made this song so important for the university was that it was played with the Trojan marching band. The students who were there were able to see Fleetwood Mac perform this song during one of the many football games the university has. The marching band has been playing it ever since. It has become such a big part of the campus life that there is almost no sporting event where the band does not play it. What makes it so popular is the part in the middle where the students get to yell, “UCLA SUCKS!” With UCLA being the main rival of USC, it gives the team a lot of school spirit as they cheer for their team.

What makes this song so special to my mom is the fact that it was done by a band she absolutely loved at the time, and she loves that it is still being done today. When she goes to a USC football game nowadays, she is brought back to a time when she was watching the game with her sorority sisters as a student. She loves being able to see the new students keeping some of the old traditions the same as she remembers.

Analysis:

This is a tradition that has been around for about 30 years now, and it does not look like it will be ending anytime soon. USC has become its own culture, and each football game has  a festival like feeling. There are so many different traditions that are going on during game days, it seems as if USC is its own city.

To me, this song is a way to bring the alumni and students together. Most students do not listen to Fleetwood Mac, but they do listen to this song. It is a way to connect the two different generations.

Mexican Rain Dance

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/29/14
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Mexican Rain Dance

Personal Background:

Stephanie is a junior at the University of Southern California studying biology. She has grown up with a lot of Mexican influence, and has even spent some time in Mexico with her parents and grandparents. She is living in Los Angeles at the moment and is very happy with some of the Mexican influence L.A. has.

Ritual:

In the small, rural area that Stephanie is from in Mexico, crops are a necessity. The people grow and eat all of their own corn, as well as other warmer climate vegetables. When she was around six years old and visiting her grandparents in Mexico, there was a lot of rain happening. It is important for the crops to get rain, but there was more rain than they needed. Stephanie’s family then decided they needed to do the dance that would stop the rain. They all started walking in a circle and started to sing as they walked. She says she does not remember how the song goes, but she remembers she liked it. It then turned out that the dance worked and the rain stopped. She is not sure if it was luck that it stopped, or if the dance actually worked. She has not tried it since, but she likes the idea that worked because of the dance her family did.

Even when there is a lot of rain, there are times when there is no rain. One thing Stephanie’s family has done in the past to help get the rain to come is carry a Virgin Mary statue around in the spots they want it to rain. This starts bringing the religious aspects that come with the Hispanic cultures.

These rituals mean a lot to Stephanie because without the rain her family does not have crops to eat. It makes her feel better to think these rituals work because her family spends a lot of time performing them. They give her memories of helping her family have things to eat, and she remembers having fun as kid getting to really embrace her Mexican culture.

Analysis:

This is some religious folk belief. They are doing the dance is part of a superstition, or even a magic to make the crops grow. It might be more of a psychological thing than anything else. If they think their dancing and prayers and work, then they will continue this way.

To me, this is exactly the type of thing a small area would do. They seem to have more rituals and traditions. They rely to heavily on nature, it is there only way they can feel they have control of anything.

Girl Scout Memories

Nationality: Hispanic/White
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Huntington Beach, CA
Performance Date: 4/29/14
Primary Language: English

Girl Scout Memories

Personal Background:

My sister is a senior in high school in Huntington Beach, California. She has been very involved with cross country and track and field in her school. She will be graduating this year, 2014, and will be studying art when she gets to college.

Folk Song:

When Katie was in girl scouts in elementary school, there were songs all the girls sang when all the meetings were finished.

“Make new friends but keep the old/ One is silver and the other gold/ A circle is round, it has no end/ That’s how long I want to be your friend.”

This is sometimes repeated a few times, depending on who is leading the group. While the girls sing this song, they are holding hands. One of the girls starts a trend of squeezing one of the hands from a girl next to her. It then goes around the circle until everyone’s hand has been squeezed. It was a way to make sure everyone there knew they were friends. Katie was able to feel a connection with the rest of the girls after all of this was done. She said she does not really remember being taught the song, it was just something everyone knew. The leaders started it and the girls just started catching on. It definitely had an impact on her life since she is still able to remember it about ten years later.

Analysis:

This is a folk song because it is not something that is copyrighted. It is a simple song for young girls to remember, and it is filled in with small rituals to end the meetings. It is only a song a girl scout would know, making it very exclusive to be part of the group.

To me, this is a way to show important friendship can be to young girls. It can inspire them to really help their community. I feel it is also important to let them know as they change, keep some things the same.