Category Archives: Musical

Kamigami-sama Eisa Dance

Nationality: China
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: March 13, 2014
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese, Mandarin

Eisa is a traditional Okinawan folk dance, and it uses small handheld drums called paranku. People used to dance eisa during traditional festivals, but now it is just performed for cultural entertainment. It is closely related to taiko.

Our taiko group dances eisa to a song called “Kamigami-sama”. It’s from the soundtrack of Hayao Miyazaki’s movie Spirited Away, and it incorporates many elements of traditional Japanese music. The song’s title means “The Gods”, and it’s actually a silly song about all sorts of gods needing to take all sorts of baths. But people who don’t understand Japanese can’t really tell.

This song has been in our repertoire for quite a number of years now, and we basically just have older members teach the new members every year. Sometimes we might change a bit of the movements or formation, depending on the Artistic Director or on the dancers’ opinions, so each performance is a little different.

Kamigami-sama

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The informant is the Executive Director of her taiko group, so she is knowledgeable about the group’s repertoire and the stories behind most songs.

It is interesting that this piece is never performed the exact same way more than once, since the performances are never written / made “sacred”. With this more fluid nature, performances of “Kamigami-sama” could potentially take big changes as the years accumulate.

Whistles in the Night

Nationality: Taiwan
Age: 50
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Bay Area, California
Performance Date: March 15, 2014
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English, Hokkien

You cannot whistle or play any wind instrument after sundown, or you would end up summoning a ghost, because ghosts sound like whistles when they move swiftly through the air.

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This is an interesting superstition because it plays upon the fear of  ghosts, yet it also plays on contagious magic—how making a sound summons something that sounds just like it. This could be a more magical/convincing way for parents to tell children to not disturb neighbors at night.

Obo Shin Otten Totten

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student, Journalist
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 29th, 2014
Primary Language: English

My Informant described this game that she played as a child at summer camp as similar in play to “Down by the Banks”, though the tune was different than most versions of “Down by the Banks” that she heard (Unfortunately, she could not remember the specific tune). Children would gather and sit in a circle and place their hands on top of their neighbors hand, so that each child could clap the next child’s hand. The children would go through the rhyme until the end of the count of ten, and whoever was clapped on ten was out. The game would continue until it was two children left, who would push their arms to each other, until the count of ten, when whoever’s arm was near their body would be out.

The rhyme’s words were this:

Obo shin otten totten, nay nay, I am boom boom boom, itty bitty otten totten, obo shin otten totten, obo shin otten totten boom! one two three four five six seven eight nine ten!

She remembered the game fondly, and that it was a good way for kids new to the camp to bond, and older kids to help younger kids acclimate to the camp environment.

It’s interesting to me how this clapping game is translated from group to group, as the general clapping motions stay relatively the same, while depending on the group, the melody or rhythm will change. I am not sure what this says about each group, but it is interesting that the motions stay consistent, while the song almost always changes fairly significantly.

Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Musician, Tutor
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 29th, 2014
Primary Language: English

Informant, originally from Chicago, excitedly sat up from couch to tell this story:

Informant: Ok! So Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow is allegedly responsible for the Great Chicago Fire which happened in 1871. Basically all of the downtown and a bit of the north side burned down completely because all of the buildings were made of wood. [Gesticulating wildly to indicate the massive disaster, then bends closer to whisper next part.] No one knows what started the fire but the legend is that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern. [Then excitedly] There are songs about it and everything!

Informant’s excitement over stories about the origins of his town and his favorite sports team from his home town, indicate what it really important to him, and perhaps to other Chicagoans. He was not as excited about a ghost story more typically associated with the roads around his town and neighborhood than the stories about Chicago itself. To be a Chicagoan, or to be a Cubs fan, is clearly a larger identity than simply to be someone who lives in a city, or a specific suburb.

One song, as indicated by the Informant, about Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow can be found on this website the Informant showed me:

Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow (lyrics, music, and their variations, heard here).

The Informant indicated that the second set of lyrics, starting with “5 Nights Ago” was the one he was most familiar with.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: Kid’s Pages. “Old Mother Leary (or “There’ll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”).” . http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/songs/childrens/hottimemp3.htm (accessed April 29, 2014).

Theatre Chant: My Acka Backa

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student, Journalist
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 29th, 2014
Primary Language: English

Informant explained that to prepare and amp up for theatre performances, groups would gather in a circle, clap and dance in place to this particular rhyme, which they would chant over and over to a beat, increasing in energy, tempo, and volume, until it is shouted as loud as possible, and as fast as possible. Then the group would stop and cheer.

Informant:  And then this other rhyming one that goes like, “my acka backa, my soda cracker, my GTO, my booty ho, yo ma, yo ma, yo’ granny’s granny’s got a hole in her panties [Made a shape with her hands like a hole], got a big behind, like frankenstein [The hole shape made with the hand expands], goes beepbeepbeep [Often they would gesture honking a horn] down sesame street, that street is slick, as slick as glass, and if you don’t like it, you can kiss my [Rather than saying ass, she pointed to her back]—” and then loops over and over again, increasing energy/tempo/volume.

Informant explained that she had much more pleasant memories of this particular chant rather than the “Eat the Babies” chant. In particular, she remembers jumping up and down, holding hands, as the tempo and volume increased. Both rhymes are fairly similar in what they achieve, and in how they are physically practiced. The difference is simply in the aggressive the lyrics are, as opposed to these fairly sexual lyrics, though the actions performed and the volume of singing is both equally aggressive.