Category Archives: Musical

French Folk Song Allouette

Nationality: French Canadian, Lithuanian
Age: 50
Occupation: Vice President of Marketing and Product Planning
Residence: Tarzana, California
Performance Date: March 31, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: French, Spanish

Lyrics in french to the traditional French-Canadian song “Alouette,” followed by an English translation of the song, courtesy of the informant:

French Version

Refrain:

Alouette, gentille alouette,

Alouette, je te plumerai.

 

Je te plumerai la tête. Je te plumerai la tête.

Et la tête! Et la tête!

Alouette! Alouette!

A-a-a-a-ah (sounds like Aaaa)

Refrain

Je te plumerai le bec. Je te plumerai le bec.

Et le bec!  x2

Et la tête!  x2

Alouette!  x2

A-a-a-a-ah

Refrain

Je te plumerai les yeux. Je te plumerai les yeux.

Et les yeux!  x2

Et le bec!  x2

Et la tête!  x2

Alouette!  x2

A-a-a-a-ah

Refrain

Je te plumerai le cou. Je te plumerai le cou.

Et le cou!  x2

Et les yeux!  x2

Et le bec!  x2

Et la tête!  x2

Alouette!  x2

A-a-a-a-ah

Refrain

Je te plumerai les ailes. Je te plumerai les ailes.

Et les ailes!  x2

Et le cou!  x2

Et les yeux!  x2

Et le bec!  x2

Et la tête!  x2

Alouette!  x2

A-a-a-a-ah

Refrain

Je te plumerai les pattes. Je te plumerai les pattes.

Et les pattes!  x2

Et les ailes!  x2

Et le cou!  x2

Et les yeux!  x2

Et le bec!  x2

Et la tête!  x2

Alouette!  x2

A-a-a-a-ah

Refrain

Je te plumerai la queue. Je te plumerai la queue.

Et la queue!  x2

Et les pattes!  x2

Et les ailes!  x2

Et le cou!  x2

Et les yeux!  x2

Et le bec!  x2

Et la tête!  x2

Alouette!  x2

A-a-a-a-ah

Refrain

Je te plumerai le dos. Je te plumerai le dos.

Et le dos!  x2

Et la queue!  x2

Et les pattes!  x2

Et les ailes!  x2

Et le cou!  x2

Et les yeux!  x2

Et le bec!  x2

Et la tête!  x2

Alouette!  x2

A-a-a-a-ah

Refrain

 

English Version

Refrain

Lark, gentle lark,

Lark, I will pluck you (I will pluck out you’re feathers).

 

I will pluck your head. I will pluck your head.

And your head! And your head!

Laaark! Laaark!

O-o-o-o-oh

Refrain

I will pluck your beak. I will pluck your beak.

And your beak!  x2

And your head!  x2

Laaaark! Laaark!

O-o-o-o-oh

Refrain

I will pluck (out) your eyes. I will pluck your eyes.

And your eyes!  x2

And your beak!  x2

And your head!  x2

Laaark! Laaark!

O-o-o-o-oh

Refrain

I will pluck your neck. I will pluck your neck.

And your neck!  x2

And your eyes!  x2

And your beak!  x2

And your head!  x2

Laaark!  Laaark!

O-o-o-o-oh

Refrain

I will pluck your wings. I will pluck your wings.

And your wings!  x2

And your neck!  x2

And your eyes!  x2

And your beak!  x2

And your head!  x2

Laaark! Laaark!

O-o-o-o-oh

Refrain

I will pluck your feet. I will pluck your feet.

And your feet!  x2

And your wings!  x2

And your neck!  x2

And your eyes!  x2

And your beak!  x2

And your head!  x2

Laaark! Laaark!

O-o-o-o-oh

Refrain

I will pluck your tail. I will pluck your tail.

And your tail!  x2

And your feet!  x2

And your wings!  x2

And your neck!  x2

And your eyes!  x2

And your beak!  x2

And your head!  x2

Laaark!  x2

O-o-o-o-oh

Refrain

I will pluck your back. I will pluck your back.

And your back!  x2

And your tail!  x2

And your feet!  x2

And your wings!  x2

And your neck!  x2

And your eyes!  x2

And your beak!  x2

And your head!  x2

Laaark!  x2

O-o-o-o-oh

Refrain

Informant’s response when asked about the song.

Informant: “The bird called an alouette is a morning lark, they make a big noise, you hear them in the morning on lakes and stuff. That song Alouette, today is mostly a French Canadian beer drinking song. Um, but apparently it goes back to the fur trapping days and the people they called “les voyagers,” I don’t know if you are familiar with the term. “Les voyageurs” were fur trappers essentially. They would go wandering around all over the north American countryside trapping small critters for pelts and would bring them in and they made a living that way and of course they explored an awful lot of what was the northeastern, north American continent looking for plentiful trapping areas. Anyways, that song was useful in helping them keep a cadence when they were canoeing because that was one of the best ways to get around, as there are an awful lot of lakes in that part of the country and rivers as well. A canoe, especially with two men in it paddling, could cover some pretty significant ground, so they would sing that song to keep a cadence as they paddled the canoe. And so anyways, now you hear it all the time, in Canada anyways, they use it for teaching French to English kids, and actually I think they might use it for French Canadian kids too when they’re little. But anyways, of course the song is about catching the lark or describing to the lark you are trying to catch what you’re going to do to it, by plucking it. You know, all over, you’re plucking its head, you’re plucking its beak, you’re plucking its eyes, you’re plucking its neck, you’re plucking its tail, all these things, and of course it means that there are just more and more verses to the song. So, “Alouette, gentille alouette, Alouette, je te plumerai,” means alouette, alouette I’m going to pluck you. Right? “Je te plumerai la tête. Je te plumerai la tête,” translates to “I’m pulling the feather out of your head, I’m pulling the feathers out of your head, and the head, and the head” and so on and so on, so anytime you can name a part of the body then you pluck that part of the body and there is another verse to the song, so it can literally go on forever. So, if you’re trying to row across Lake Huron, it might take a long time so you could sing that over and over again and keep your cadence and paddle across the lake. So there you go.”

The informant is a middle-aged man, who lived in France for about a year and then in Montreal for about two years. He speaks French fluently and has French Canadian heritage, as his family traveled from French Canada in the 40s and 50s to Maine and Connecticut. He appreciates and enjoys learning about history and French Canadian culture.

The informant first heard this song when he was around ten or twelve years old playing youth hockey in Harford,Connecticut. A French Canadian men’s league would also play at the rink where he would practice, and he remembers one occasion where they were drinking beer and singing. In addition, his uncle is from Moncton, New Brunswick, and he taught the informant the words to the song. The informant remembers this song because as he said “my family is French Canadian and it reminds me of where I come from.”

The informant himself does not often sing the song, though he may hum the tune while performing yard work or other construction work in his home.

In addition to the background given by the informant, while looking up larks, I found that they were common game in French Canada. The informant affirmed this, stating “they ate a lot of ‘em up there.” I found that this song was also sung after the lark had been caught and the performers were cleaning the bird to get it ready to eat.

As a child, I remember that my father would sing this tune and after listening to him for a while, I learned how to sing it as well without knowing what the words meant. I liked the song because it has a very upbeat melody and seemed like a happy song. It wasn’t until later that I learned that the song was about plucking all of the feathers off of a bird. The dissonance between the melody and the meaning of the lyrics was surprising to say the least. However, it was interesting to discover the cultural context behind this song because it serves a couple of very practical functions: as a cadence, as a song to pass time while cleaning game for dinner, and as a song to teach children the names of body parts.

Ride that Pony

Nationality: American
Age: 17
Occupation: High School Student
Residence: Albuquerque, NM
Performance Date: 3/10/2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

You stand in a circle with 3 to probably 6 people in the middle.  Everyone sings:

“Ride, ride, ride that pony. Get up and ride that big fat pony. Ride, ride, ride that pony. This is what she told me.”

As they sing this verse, the people in the center dance around like cowboys riding horses.  Then the people going around in the middle go up to a person standing in the circle and sing:

“Front to front to front, my baby.  Back to back to back, my baby. Side to side to side, my baby.  This is what she told me.”

As they sing this, they face their partner in the direction that they sing (front, back, side), and when they finish, the people who were standing the circle switch with their partner who had been in the middle and they repeat the song.  At the end, after a few rounds, you say “everyone in,” and everyone goes around and does it.

The informant learned the song and dance from the seniors in the theatre department at her school when she was in 7th grade.  Before every performance, the director leads a warm up, but then the students do a more fun warm up of their own called the “actor warm-up,” which includes the song above.  The informant explained that they did it as a cast as preparation for the show to raise energy and get excited.  On the closing night of the show, the seniors start in the middle because it is the last time that they will ever get to do the pre-show ritual.  The song and dance is a way for them to bring the cast together regardless of age or experience.

I knew the song also from my own high school where we used it in the same way as a warm-up in what we called cast-bonding.  Instead of having a number of people in the center though, we go one at a time while the rest of the circle claps and cheers.  The ritual helped us to get the younger cast members to break out of their comfort zone and become part of the high school theatre community as a whole.

Polar Bear Underwear Song

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Saratoga, CA
Performance Date: 4/15/2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

“One day someone pooped in his underwear,

couldn’t find another pair, had to wear the dirty pair.

Five days later, eaten by a polar bear,

the next day the polar bear died.”

Polar Bear Underwear Song

The informant learned this from his friend, “a church friend actually.  I think I was maybe in the 5th grade.”  He had forgotten the song, and only recently remembered it when his older sister sang it to him on their road trip together.

He likes the song because it is so nonsensical.  There is no moral to the story.  It’s just funny.  “It rhymes and its got poop in it.  I just realized.  It has a rhyme and to add to the nonsensicalness of it, the last line doesn’t rhyme.  (Laughing) Where did the polar bear come from and why did he die?  Oh my gosh.”  He really enjoys the song even though he is older now.  Sometimes the song pops into his head, but he doesn’t ever really sing it for a particular purpose or to make people laugh.

The song is just fun and silly, but it also covers the taboo of bodily functions.  The song allows them to have a tabooistic discourse even in place as sanctimonious as church.  Children perhaps use the song to talk about “gross things” in a fun way.  With songs, politeness is not necessary all the time.  I like the little song, and I know the kids in my family would really enjoy it as well.

Annotation: In a collection of children’s songs, there is a variation of this:

Five days later she couldn’t find her underwear
Couldn’t find her underwear, couldn’t find her underwear
Ten days later she was eaten by a polar bear
That was the end of her!

G., Marissa. “Children’s Songs Part Three.” N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. <http://www.kayshapero.net/child3.htm>.

Spanish Hanukkah Song: “Ocho Candelas”

Nationality: United States
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Long Island, New York
Performance Date: 4/11/13
Primary Language: English

The informant grew up in New York in  Jewish household. Although they were not extremely devout in terms of observing every rule and tradition, Hanukkah was always a special time. His Grandmother is from Spain, and so when she moved to the United States, she took some Spanish Hanukkah traditions with her. One of these traditions is a Spanish Hanukkah song called “Ocho Candelas”. The lyrics are as follows:

Ocho candelas para mi,

Ocho candelas para ti,

uno! (candelita)

dos! (candelitas)

tres! (candelitas)

cuatro! (candelitas)

cinco! (candelitas)

seis! (candelitas)

siete! (candelitas)

ocho! (candelitas)

The informant learned it from his grandmother, who learned the song when she was in Spain. He has never heard it from anyone else in the United States. The fact that it has made the leap across the ocean with at least one family displays an interesting mix of Jewish and Spanish culture in the context of America.

Lavender Town Syndrome

Nationality: United States
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2/17/13
Primary Language: English
Language: French

The informant is a college student from Reno, Nevada.

This supposed “syndrome” is a piece of online lore which comes from the Pokemon video games for Gameboy. The informant first stumbled upon a website about it while he was in high school. However, he played the games when he was seven or eight years old. In the game, the player travels from town to town, advancing towards the end. One of the towns is called Lavender Town. In it, there is a tower full of ghosts of wandering souls of Pokemon who have been murdered. When the player enters a new area, the music changes. Each town has its own song, and the informant recalls Lavender Town’s being particularly creepy.

This song is central to the lore which has become an online legend. According to the legend, when the first prototypes of the game came out in Japan in February of 1996, there was a spike in illness of children who bought and played the game. These “illnesses” supposedly made them mentally unstably, resulting in a spike in suicides and violent behavior. According to the legend, the high frequencies used in the song resulted in these physiological changes. The informant does not actually believe the legend is actually true, mostly because it is posted on a page called “creepypasta Wiki”, a page for stories that are generally made-up internet hoaxes. Still, there are entire forums filled with lengthy theories about missing frequencies and ghosts in the machine. The following is a link to the song, as heard in the final, U.S. version: