Main Piece:

Participant – “So, we would always sing at recess in California the song that goes…

‘Brick wall waterfall

girl you think you know it all

you don’t, I do

so boom with that attitude

recesses pieces, 7-up

you mess with me, I’ll mess you up’

…and a lot of people have different endings to that”                

Context:

The participant was in my room with a few of my other friends, we discussed the games we used to play as kids. She shared this common song from her childhood that the girls would often sing to one another while playing games.

Background:

The participant was born in the California Bay Area and grew up there until she was 8. Her family then moved to Minnetonka Minnesota where she lived until she moved to Los Angeles to join the University of Southern California’s class of 2021. The participant has a half White and half Indian background. This folk song was passed onto the participant by other girls in her elementary school, almost every girl in school knew the song.          

Analysis:

The participant shared this song and my friends and I all knew the beginning of it but had different variations for the ending. This often happens with folk music, it has a similar base and tone, but can have big differences from place to place. This song varied from friend group to friend group and as kids you could tell if someone went to your school based on what version of the song they knew.