Tag Archives: chant

German Birthday Rhyme

Nationality: German

Occupation: Retired

Residence: Westergellersen, Germany

Performance Date: 4/10/22

Primary Language: German

Context:

HH is a retired former housewife who lives in Westergellersen, a small village in northern Germany.

Main Piece:

Am Fenster heute Morgen
Da saßen ohne Sorgen
Drei Spatzen und drei Meisen.
Ja was soll das den heißen?
Sie haben’s mir geflüstert.
Ich weiß es ganz genau:
"Name" hat heute Geburtstag.
Darum der Radau!

Translation:

At the window this morning
There sat without worries
Three sparrows and three tits.
What is that supposed to mean?
They whispered it to me.
I know it exactly:
It's "Name"'s birthday today
Therefore the noise!

Analysis:

This rhyme is longer and a bit more complex than the now ubiquitous ‘happy birthday’ song is in America, but it serves the same function. Both verses have a space to insert the name of the person who is being celebrated, which makes the chant personalized to the birthday celebrator. I think the inclusion of specifically named bird varieties, sparrows and tits, interesting because while these are common birds, they do place locational limits on the rhyme.

The final line of the verse, “Darum der Radau!” I found a little difficult to translate. I chose to translate word for word, but fear that the implied meaning may not be clear from this literal translation. ‘Darum’ can mean because of, therefore, or hence, and ‘Radau’ has a lot of adjacent translations including noise, racket, and hullabaloo. In effect, the final line of the rhyme is the speakers explaining why they are being boisterous and causing a racket (either through the loud reciting of the rhyme, or the celebratory event they are in the midst of).

100 Days Chant

Background

Informant is a friend of mine from high school. She is now a junior at USC. She is a first-generation Vietnamese American, and is from Woodbridge, Virginia. She does not have any specific religious affiliations. We both attended The Madeira School, although she graduated two years before I did. Various alumnae were interviewed to compare versions of the same lore from the school. She is referred to as “AH”.

Context

I asked the informant to recite a chant sung by the seniors at our high school.

Content

Interviewer: Can you recite the Madeira chant senior chant for me?

AH: Oh my God. Wait, hold on the 100 days one?

Interviewer: Yeah.

AH: Do I even remember it? Um, how does it start? Oh!

Hark the Herald angels shout!

A hundred days till we get out!

A hundred days till we are free

from this penitentiary

(While clapping)

back to smoking

back to drinking

back to sex!

and evil thinking

hark the Herald angels shout!

A hundred days till we get out!

Analysis

Unlike the other traditions from Madeira, I only asked AH about this tradition, as it has become “canon” at Madeira. This chant is specifically sung after 100 Days, a special day that marks 100 days to graduation. The seniors perform the chant on 100 Days and at all-school events until graduation, counting down to graduation. For example, if graduation is in 35 days, then 35 would be subbed out in the lyrics instead of 100. The origins of this chant, however, are unknown. It is also questionable about how it became endorsed by the school, as it includes references to illicit behaviors, which are very much not allowed by the school. Unfortunately, I had stopped recording at this point, but AH remarked on the hilarity of the statement “back to”, as if Madeira students had been engaging in those behaviors prior to high school. Madeira is extremely explicit in their policies against drugs, alcohol, and lewd behavior, and gets referred to as “Prison School” by some boarding students due to the strict check-out policies for boarders. This chant is entirely satirical and humorous, poking fun at the school, as well as a tool for the seniors to celebrate their proximity to graduating high school.

Circle — A High School Theater Ritual

Nationality: American

Age: 19

Occupation: Student

Residence: Bay Area, California

Performance Date: May 2nd, 2021

Primary Language: English

Language: N/A

Main Piece:

Before every show we always had this thing called Circle, and the purpose of Circle was to kind of like, get you hyped up and get your nerves out, and kind of keep you from being shy or feeling stage fright by doing silly, silly things, and seeing people do silly things. And the whole tradition of Circle is that you chant, “Oooh, I feel so good like! I knew I would! Oooh I feel so good!” And you would just continually chant that while clapping to a certain beat until someone went into the circle and would be like, “Like [something now]” and everyone would just mimic them no matter what it was. It could’ve been something that had been done every year before them; that’s like a very simple one, like “Like a chair now!” And you do a squat [laughing] and, y’know, you do a squat and then you continue the chant. Or, you could make one up every single time. I remember [a classmate] once went in the circle and went like “Like a parabola!” and literally did a backwards handstand and bent over backwards. And it was crazy, and people started doing it all the time after that even if he wasn’t at [the high school] anymore at the time. That was a fun one that, like, caught on.

Background:

My informant is one of my friends from high school, and was very involved in our school’s theater department. Circle was one of the most consistent rituals prior to every show, no matter if it was opening or closing night, and the chant from the piece was one of the most popular and well known. When I asked my informant what the tradition meant to him, he said it was about “being vulnerable and bonding with other people, especially if it’s your first show and you’re nervous.” Seeing people perform silly antics removed the fear of embarrassment and let everyone come together to prepare for a great performance while also feeling supported by those around you.

Context:

This came up when my informant and I were trying to remember traditions that happened in our theater department during high school. While I was involved in a few shows, my friend had more experience than I did and was able to remind me of a ritual that the department participated in before every single play or musical show.

Thoughts:

In this ritual, we can observe that the purpose is to create an energetic atmosphere where the cast and crew could get excited for the show; in a way, this ritual is meant to bring good luck to them and alleviate tension. We can also observe that there’s an expectation for what to do during the chant, but not only that, there’s a myriad of variations to the chant that have been made up by people from past generations of the theater department. I also liked that my informant gave the example of “Like a parabola now!” because it shows that Circles functions not only as a stress reliever before a show, but an opportunity for a theater kid to leave a legacy behind, as seen by the fact that our past classmate’s variation is still performed even if he no longer goes to the school. Additionally, we see the multiplicity and variation in the different chants that are performed at each Circle, and know that some will die out and be replaced with others depending on how popular the chant becomes.

The University of Alabama – Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer Sports Chant

Nationality: American

Age: 21

Occupation: College Student

Residence: Alabama, USA

Performance Date: 04/18/2021

Primary Language: English

Context:

Informant AA was a current undergraduate student at The University of Alabama at the time of this collection. Both of AA’s parents are passionate Alabama fans which meant that AA was practically born into the already prevalent game-day culture. Alabama game-day culture finds its peak during football season as The University of Alabama tends to beat just about any team they play. Tailgating, parades, and ritualized viewing are all aspects of this widespread game-day culture that can be especially observed in Tuscaloosa, AL where the university is located.

Upon attending The University of Alabama themself, AA was granted access to the student section of the Bryant-Denny Stadium where the university’s home football games are held. Admission into this section is limited and students have to reserve their place for a select few games before the season even begins.

When speaking with AA, they told me a chant the student section and other Alabama fans yell out just after winning a football game.

Text:

The chant is known as Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer and it goes as follows: “Hey __________! We just beat the hell out of you! Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer give em hell, Alabama!” This chant is repeated three times and is accompanied by the university’s “Million Dollar” marching band.

The ________ in the chant changes from game to game so that Alabama fans can direct the chant directly at the team they just beat. For example, if Alabama were to beat Auburn University, the chant would say, “Hey Tigers! We just beat the hell out of you! Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer give em hell, Alabama!” If Alabama were to beat Georgia, the chant would be changed to “Hey Bulldogs! We just beat the hell out of you! Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer give em hell, Alabama!” The target of the chant is the losing team’s mascot making the chant more appropriate and personal for each circumstance it is yelled.

Analysis:

After hearing about AA’s description and experience with this chant, I am lead to believe that this example of game-day folk speech serves to showcase victory, celebration, and unity. According to AA, the chant can be heard all across campus and many tailgaters outside of the stadium will even participate. While this chant has become traditional when the team is victorious, it functions to connect/unite Alabama fans. By participating in this chant at its appropriate time, each fan’s scream is contributing to a singular voice that is more powerful than could be achieved individually. Similar to the sport itself, teamwork and communication are the driving forces behind large-scale victories. By chanting, the students and fans become a kind of team themselves. Campus communities and cultures thrive when comradery can be attained. In becoming a traditional folk saying, the Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer victory chant successfully celebrates victory while simultaneously strengthening the moral and bonds between Albama fans.

We Are A Circle- A Pagan Chant

Nationality: American

Age: 20

Occupation: Student

Residence: Houston, TX

Performance Date: April 25, 2020

Primary Language: English

Background: My informant (M) shared with me her experience with a song we learned growing up. We attended a daycare, which was run by our grandmother, from infancy to 5 years old, and would frequently stay there during summer breaks. She shared with me her perspective on a ritual we performed daily. Neither of us had ever thought too much about this ritual until we got older, but talking about it now we could tell there was probably more to this chant than we realized as kids. Our grandmother always talked about the importance of being kind to the Earth and thanking it whenever we took something from it, like food. As kids, this was just part of growing up, and the chant was part of our daily routine, we agreed that we never thought about the words or meaning until we got older.

M’s Perspective on The Ritual:

M: “I guess it was a way for all of the daycare kids to come together and bond and be calm. We would sit in a circle with a candle in the middle and we would sing childhood songs and tell nursery rhymes. At the end of the “circle time,” as our grandmother called it, we would have a closing ceremony of sorts where we would stand up and join hands and we would sing this one song. She played it on a CD, but we all knew all the words and we would look at each other and sing. There were a couple of verses to the song that I don’t remember very well, but during the chorus, we would all sing loud and join hands and walk in a circle. Then it would be another verse and we would stop walking. The verses all had to do with the elements, you know fire and wind and stuff. And with each new chorus, we would walk faster and faster until it got a little crazy and we were screaming this song (laughs). I don’t think she does it anymore because it started getting a little aggressive. But anyway the closing line had something to do with coming “FACE TO FACE” and we would all get really close to each other- you know face to face- and we would throw our hands up and someone would blow out the candle and that was it (laughs and pauses).

And we did this for probably ten years or more. It was a little strange now that I’m thinking about it, like what was that even about? We never really anything else that I can look back on as being out of the ordinary.

Main Text:

We are a circle within a circle