Category Archives: Musical

The Gypsy Rover

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Legislative Affairs Intern, Department of State
Residence: California (Primary)
Performance Date: April 27, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: French

The Gypsy Rover

A lullaby that the informant’s  grandmother would sing to her mom:

 

“The gypsy rover came over the hill,

down the through the valley so shady.

whistled and he sand, ‘till the green wood sprang,

and he won the heart of a lady.

“And then it’s like:

“Ah-di-do, ah-di-do-da-day,

ah-di-do-ah-di-day-O!

whistled and he sang, ‘till the green wood sprang,

and he won the heart of a lady.

“And then it’d be like, it, like, there’s a bunch of, um, different parts, but it would be like, the main one of them, was like, this girl falls in love with the gypsy person, and um, her father doesn’t like it, but she’s, but the part that I remember at least:

“He is no gypsy, my father, she said,

the lord of the valley’s all over.

And I shall stay ‘till my dying day,

With the whistling gypsy rover.

“So it’s just, like, a long ballad thing that my mom would sing to me as a lullaby. I can just totally see this being a 70’s ballad now that I think about it, but I always thought it was like, some special song that she knew from somewhere, that was handed down through the generations.”

 

The informant’s mother sang it if she couldn’t get to sleep beginning maybe when she was two or three (her mother had been singing it as long as she could remember). It was her “go-to” lullaby. She is unaware of the origins of the song, but she liked it because it wasn’t a typical lullaby and nobody else had heard it. She also liked it because it is a long saga, and she says she’ll have to write it down so she can sing it to her children at some point.

The tune of this song is easy to follow because it repeats for each stanza throughout the duration of the song (even for the part where words are replaced by sounds). This may be what makes it enjoyable and easy to pass on; however, the length of it (the informant only knew parts of it) may be a hindrance to spreading by those who do not have great memory skills (the informant said she’d have to write it down). The combination of enjoyable easiness and that challenge in the length seem to make it more precious.

Cadence- Trojan Marching Band

Nationality: Sri Lankan; Irish, Scottish, German; Irish, German, Norweigan, Polish, Swedish; American
Age: 21; 19; 18; 18
Occupation: Student; Student; Student; Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 28, 2013
Primary Language: English

The Trojan Marching Band (TMB), otherwise known as The Spirit of Troy and The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe, is the marching band at the University of Southern California. The band plays for the university’s sports teams, especially involved in football games, promoting school spirit and acting as a source of entertainment. The TMB has a culture of its own, teeming with tradition. Being in the band myself, I gathered four of my friends to discuss these traditions. Mishan is a junior, Angie is a sophomore and AJ and Travis are freshman, all in the clarinet section.

 

When the marching band moves from one location to another, the drum line plays a cadence. During the music the band yells and sings different things. These chants increase the spirit of the band.

Changes in cadence chants are an example of the multiplicity and variation of folklore. Angie pointed out that new chants are being created all the time based on recent and relevant occurrences.

Practically, the rhythm of the chants help the band stay in rank and in step with each other so it looks unified. It also takes the focus off of the long trek, three-quarters of a mile or more, the the Coliseum where football games are held.

When the band is in sync with each other, it makes it difficult for outsiders to penetrate the ranks. There is a phrase “no one gets through the band.” This is occasionally a safety issue, especially if the band is at an away game with the fans of other teams. Band members have gotten into fights or had their helmets stolen. But in a tight block the band is unified and impenetrable. In addition to safety concerns, this is also a source of pride. Yelling these phrases that outsiders aren’t familiar with separates the band from other teams fans. Instead of paying attention to heckling onlookers, the band is stands apart.

UCLA Anti-Fight Song- Trojan Marching Band

Nationality: Sri Lankan; Irish, Scottish, German; Irish, German, Norweigan, Polish, Swedish; American
Age: 21; 19; 18; 18
Occupation: Student; Student; Student; Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 28, 2013
Primary Language: English

The Trojan Marching Band (TMB), otherwise known as The Spirit of Troy and The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe, is the marching band at the University of Southern California. The band plays for the university’s sports teams, especially involved in football games, promoting school spirit and acting as a source of entertainment. The TMB has a culture of its own, teeming with tradition. Being in the band myself, I gathered four of my friends to discuss these traditions. Mishan is a junior, Angie is a sophomore and AJ and Travis are freshman, all in the clarinet section.

 

It is well known within the USC community that UCLA is the enemy. The rivalry between the two schools is one of the largest in collegiate football. The band supports this culture in many ways; one of which is their anti-fight song. These songs parody the rival school’s fight song, using the melody but changing the lyrics to be degrading. USC’s greatest rivals, including Stanford and Berkley, also have anti-fight songs. They are passed down to new members every year and are sung in the practices preceding the respective football games. Mishan, Angie, Travis and AJ sang the anti-fight song:

 

“High up in the hills of Westwood

Sprawled offensive to the eye

lies a Cal extension campus

known as Westwood High

HIGH HIGH HIGH

 

Home of all the bruin bear cubs

Ugly is its name

Its student body’s vile,

its football teams a pile

and its campus is a shame

 

U… G… L… Y

U.G.L.Y.”

 

The song incorporates potentially offensive and degrading things about the UCLA campus, academia, student population and football team. This gives the USC band and fans a sense of pride and superiority over their rivals.

Rugby Days of the Week Song

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student; Student Worker in USC Housing
Residence: Compton, California
Performance Date: 4/20/2013
Primary Language: English

“Mee me-me-me-me-me meee!

“Today is Monday! (echo: Today is Monday!)

“Monday’s a scoping day! (Monday’s a scoping day!)

“How’s your brother? (All right!)

“How’s your father? (Up tight!)

“How’s your lover? (Out of sight!)

“When’s the last time? (Last night!)

“When’s the next time? (Tonight!)

“Is everybody happy? (You bet your ass we are!)

“Doo do-do-doo do-do, doo do-do-doo do-do!

“Today is Tuesday! (Today is Tuesday!)

“Tuesday’s a feely day! (Tuesday’s a feely day!)

“Monday’s a scoping day! (Monday’s a scoping day!)

“How’s your brother? (All right!)

“How’s your father? (Up tight!)

“How’s your lover? (Out of sight!)

“When’s the last time? (Last night!)

“When’s the next time? (Tonight!)

“Is everybody happy? (You bet your ass we are!)

“Doo do-do-doo do-do, doo do-do-doo do-do!

“Today is Wednesday! (Today is Wednesday!)

“Wednesday’s a practice day! (Wednesday’s a practice day!)

“Tuesday’s a feely day! (Tuesday’s a feely day!)

“Monday’s a scoping day! (Monday’s a scoping day!)

“How’s your brother? (All right!)

“How’s your father? (Up tight!)

“How’s your lover? (Out of sight!)

“When’s the last time? (Last night!)

“When’s the next time? (Tonight!)

“Is everybody happy? (You bet your ass we are!)

“Doo do-do-doo do-do, doo do-do-doo do-do!

“Today is Thursday! (Today is Thursday!)

“Thursday’s a drinking day! (Thursday’s a drinking day!)

“Wednesday’s a practice day! (Wednesday’s a practice day!)

“Tuesday’s a feely day! (Tuesday’s a feely day!)

“Monday’s a scoping day! (Monday’s a scoping day!)

“How’s your brother? (All right!)

“How’s your father? (Up tight!)

“How’s your lover? (Out of sight!)

“When’s the last time? (Last night!)

“When’s the next time? (Tonight!)

“Is everybody happy? (You bet your ass we are!)

“Doo do-do-doo do-do, doo do-do-doo do-do!

“Today is Friday! (Today is Friday!)

“Friday’s a fucking day! (Friday’s a fucking day!)

“Thursday’s a drinking day! (Thursday’s a drinking day!)

“Wednesday’s a practice day! (Wednesday’s a practice day!)

“Tuesday’s a feely day! (Tuesday’s a feely day!)

“Monday’s a scoping day! (Monday’s a scoping day!)

“How’s your brother? (All right!)

“How’s your father? (Up tight!)

“How’s your lover? (Out of sight!)

“When’s the last time? (Last night!)

“When’s the next time? (Tonight!)

“Is everybody happy? (You bet your ass we are!)

“Doo do-do-doo do-do, doo do-do-doo do-do!

“Today is Saturday! (Today is Saturday!)

“SATURDAY’S A RUGBY DAY! (SATURDAY’S A RUGBY DAY!)

“SATURDAY’S A RUGBY DAY! (SATURDAY’S A RUGBY DAY!)

“SATURDAY’S A RUGBY DAY! (SATURDAY’S A RUGBY DAY!)

“Friday’s a fucking day! (Friday’s a fucking day!)

“Thursday’s a drinking day! (Thursday’s a drinking day!)

“Wednesday’s a practice day! (Wednesday’s a practice day!)

“Tuesday’s a feely day! (Tuesday’s a feely day!)

“Monday’s a scoping day! (Monday’s a scoping day!)

“How’s your brother? (All right!)

“How’s your father? (Up tight!)

“How’s your lover? (Out of sight!)

“When’s the last time? (Last night!)

“When’s the next time? (Tonight!)

“Is everybody happy? (You bet your ass we are!)

“Doo do-do-doo do-do, doo do-do-doo do-do!

“Today is Sunday! (Today is Sunday!)

“Sunday’s the Lord’s day.”

My informant for this song is on the USC Women’s Rugby team and has been a member of this team for the past three years.  According to my informant, this song is an integral part of rugby culture since there is not a team that exists that does not know this song (or at least in one version of this song).  She tells me that the song is always the first song sung at the end of a rugby game, no matter what team you are on—whether that be a national team or a club team—because it serves as a reminder that no matter what happens during the rough, dirty, grueling game, the teams are all united by one thing: rugby.  And to my informant, the song really helps the players leave any hard feelings or bitter thoughts on the field, lest anyone try and take things personally and pick fights with other members of the opposing team.  The songs that rugby teams sing (there are many more songs aside from this one) help to foster team spirit despite wins or losses.  She says that singing together helps the team feel more like a family than just any regular sports team.

The members of the women’s rugby team learn this song after their first rugby game during their rookie year on the team—the newer members observe the older members of the team in order to learn the words of the song.  The repetition of each line of the song is for this purpose: to educate the younger members, to give them members and roles to follow.  Then, when they later become veterans themselves, it is then their turn to lead the song.  The adjectives used for each day of the week—the giving a specific meaning to everyday of the week—is important too because it emphasizes the values of the rugby teams.  In this version of the song, the adjectives get progressively more intimate, ranging from simply “scoping” to “fucking” with a break in the middle for a practice (you cannot play rugby without practicing!).  Being that this is the women’s team, it makes sense that the adjective progress in this order: first they set aside Monday to scope out potential male targets, and as the week goes on, they hope to have intercourse with that target.  It is a rather sexualized song, but in the context of a single-gendered, collegiate sports team, the sexual nature of the song makes sense.

“The Story of Maui”

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Honolulu, HI
Performance Date: March 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese, Hawaiian

 

            The informant is from Honolulu, Hawaii and she first heard the myth in elementary school, where she explained she learned most of the folklore and traditional stories related to Hawaii due to the inclusion of what she called “cultural education” in classroom curriculum. A practicing Hula dancer, the informant also picked up stories during her dance classes as a child. The informant also explained that the myth was authored into a song by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, a popular Hawaiian folk singer who encouraged Hawaiian sovereignty by reviving and popularizing traditional Hawaiian stories.

           

             Maui―like the island―was a demigod. Well, he was better than a person but he wasn’t a deity. He was a super trickster kind of guy; he was fun, and sneaky, like a hero. Maui is actually in a lot of Hawaiian stories, but one of the popular ones that a lot of kids know is that he was canoeing with his brothers when he received a message from a god. It might’ve even come to him in a dream, but it had definitely come from a god. The message was that if he went fishing, he would pull up a huge catch, um, but he couldn’t turn around to look at it or he would lose his catch. So he and his brothers are paddling, and Maui feels his line go taut. He pulls it, it’s really heavy, but he keeps pulling as the canoe moves forward. One of his brothers, the story goes, turns around, and because the brother looked the line snapped. Turn out, Maui had actually pulled up the Hawaiian islands. That’s why Hawaii is shaped like a chain, with the big island and the small ones trailing behind it. They descend in size because that’s what they looked like coming out one by one from the ocean. It’s actually said that there would have been more Hawaiian islands. . .but somebody looked.

 

            The story the informant retold bears all the classic indicators of a myth. It takes place in a pre-world (or, in this case, “pre-Hawaii”) setting, the characters involved are of divine or semi-divine importance, and it describes the genesis of a land and its people―the story of Maui is, more narrowly, a creation myth.

            The myth’s presence in Kamakawiwo’ole’s song immediately reminded me of stories about Hercules. The lyrics retell a string of Maui’s heroic deeds much in the same way books on Greek mythology usually dedicate a chapter or more to describe the (lengthy) list of Hercules’ achievements. The informant explained that Kamakawiwo’ole encouraged a resurgence of a Hawaiian identity movement through his music, and his lyrics clearly illustrate the pride Hawaiians should have in their land and culture. For Kamakawiwo’ole’s musical rendition of the myth, please see his “Maui Hawaiian Sup’paman,” produced  by Big Boy Records.