Tag Archives: children’s song

Childhood Song – Down by the Banks

Context:

This informant is a 19-year-old student from Orange County. She learned this song from her classmates in early elementary school. She doesn’t specifically remember from who, but everyone in school knew this song.

Text:

“So this is like a childhood song that my friends and I, like, we would play on the playground. So if we’re bored, we would all like, sit down on the floor, get in the circle. There’s usually at least–like you need at least like three people, but’s usually more. You sit down and then you all hold hands with each other.

So like, your right hand goes on top of the person’s to your right to left hand. And then your left hand goes under the person on your left right hand. And you’re all in a circle with your hands up like that. And then there’s this song It’s called like Down by the Banks.

I mean there’s like different lyrics, but like the one I learned was like, Down by the banks by the Hanky, Panky, where the bullfrogs jumped from bank to bank, in the east frog, soda pop, hey mister something won’t you stop? I don’t really remember the lyrics to the last part.

“But like, on the beat, there’s one person that starts, and then you take your right hand and you, like, clap the other person’s hand. So you take your right hand and you clap, like, the person on your left, their right hand that’s on top of your left hand, on the beat, and you just keep going around.

And once the song ends, whoever it lands on, they’re eliminated, and they like, get out of the circle, and then you keep doing that until there’s only two people left. And then once there’s only two people, you hold you hold each other’s right hand in like a handshake, and then you just like, pull each other’s hand on the beat again, and you keep doing that until it lands on one person and then that’s, who wins the game.”

Analysis:

From what I have heard from other people, there are many variations to the lyrics of this children’s game song. Depending on the region someone is from, it seems they know different lyrics. In this case, my informant is from Southern California so she knows the song as “Down by the Banks.” This seems like a simple clap-to-the-beat game that every child learns. The game just gets passed down from class to class, as kids are bored during recess and play.

Bangun Pagi

Age: 48

Text
Malay lyrics:
Bangun pagi, gosok gigi,
cuci muka, pakai baju,
makan roti, minum susu,
pergi sekolah, senang hati.

English translation:
Wake up, brush your teeth,
Wash your face, put on clothes,
Eat bread, drink milk,
Go to school, be happy.

*Translated from Mandarin Chinese
“I learned this song from my kindergarten teacher in Malaysia and it was a song for kids to remember their morning routines to start the day. Years later with my kids, when they were young, I would sing this song to them while waking them up before school. And they’re so hard to wake up, so I would use water on my hands to splash on their faces too, while singing the song.”

Context
This is a song that KL (who is my mom) learned 40 plus years ago as a young girl growing up in Malaysia. Even after moving to America and raising a family 40 years later, KL still remembered this song and used it as part of the routine of waking us up as that’s how the song was used when she was young.

Analysis
This is an example of verbal folklore / a folk song that my mom learned orally from her teacher in school. Functionally, it outlines a morning routine, but the value of the song is moreso found in its rhythm and memories/association with the song as a way for kids in Malaysia to wake up in the morning. It’s interesting how she turned a song that she learned from her hometown (rather than her family) into a piece of family folklore that my brothers and I still remember to this day. Bangun Pagi also represents the oral spread of folklore and folk songs, as outside of singing it, my mom never explicitly taught us the meaning of the song but my brothers and I still understand the song and its meaning from waking up to it over and over again. Sims and Stephens make a point that folklore should be understood through its context rather than purely its text, which in this case is especially interesting because even before I ever understood the actual meaning of the Malay lyrics, I knew that hearing this song meant that it was time to wake up and get ready for school. Even though my parents didn’t instill any Malay traditions in our family once they moved to America, this Malay song (which is the only Malay I know) became a core part of our family’s lore and connects us to the Malay folk.



Please Rain

Text:

Que llueva, que llueva

La Virgen de la Cueva

Los pajaritos cantan, 

Las nubes se levantan. 

¡Que sí, que no,

que caiga un chaparrón!

Context:

The participant has known this saying/song since he was a young boy. Growing up in a small town in Spain, he recounts how almost everyone in his town, including his own family, has livestock and/or fields of land where they produce their own agriculture. During dry seasons, he explains that this was sung in efforts to induce rain to come and water their crops. 

Analysis:

This saying is somewhat similar to a prayer and is used as one in a sense. Usually young kids are told to call out to the Patron Saint, in hopes to promote rain that will allow the birds to sing, for the clouds to rise, and for the rain to fall. I am also part Spanish, and remember also being taught this saying in order to command rain from Mother nature. Looking back I was convinced as a child that the saying worked, as it had succeeded a few times with a light drizzle following. I now realize that it was more of a juvenile​ trick to promote optimism in my prayers, as my elders would tell me to sing it during times when they knew chances of rain were high. This saying helps instill the relation between children and beliefs in their religion, prayers, and saints.

Barney Parody Song

“Joy to the world, Barney’s dead
We barbecued his head!”

Context: The informant is a junior at USC, originally from Illinois. She told me that children from her elementary school would sing this song to the same tune as “Joy to the World,” and while there’s more to the song, she doesn’t remember it. She hasn’t sung it in a very long time and does remember there being different versions of the song as well. The “Barney” referenced is Barney the purple dinosaur from the children’s show Barney & Friends.

Analysis: From my experience, a lot of elementary schools had parody songs related to violence against Barney, but this was the first I had heard of that wasn’t actually to the tune of the show’s theme song. Regardless, this, as per Jay Mechling’s chapter in Elliott Oring’s Folk Groups and Folklore Genres, reflects one of the antithetical categories of children’s folklore: parodies. Violence against Barney is a purposeful subversion of the show’s theme (a theme that starts with “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family”) and, considering Barney was a cornerstone of many childhoods, almost seems to function as a rejection of that childishness. I think that as we grow up, it becomes “cool” to be more like the older kids; it becomes “cool” to associate with more taboo concepts like sex and violence. It becomes “uncool” to continue to believe in the blissfully unrealistic world Barney portrays, or to engage in displays of earnest emotion. Parodying violence against Barney seems to function as a way to divorce oneself from that childishness and start moving more towards adulthood. It reinforces social dynamics between age groups and shames those who still like things deemed as “childish,” defining social norms that persist far beyond childhood.

There’s A Place On Mars—Clapping Game

Nationality: American
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English

Background: The informant learned the song in elementary school and middle school. The song was sung while students, mainly girls, clapped their hands with each other. It has very clear rhythms. There are many variations of the lyrics, and this piece is an example of one of the variations.

Context: The informant learned this song while playing with friends in school. When singing this song, two people will face each other, clap their hands, clap each other’s hands, and repeat. It is a common song that was sung among students like her, and she knows other variations of the same song.

Main piece:
There’s a place on mars where the women smoke cigars and the men wear bikinis and the children drink martinis every breath you take is enough to kill a snake with the snake is dead you put roses on its head when the roses die you put diamonds in his eyes when the diamonds crack you put mustard on his back when the mustard fades you call the king of spades and the king of spades calls the queen of hearts and the queen of hearts packs the jack of clubs and the Jack of clubs says this Coca-Cola went to town orange soda knocked him down Dr Pepper fixed him up now we’re drinking 7up 7up got the flu now we’re drinking Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew fell off a mountain now we’re drinking from a fountain fountain broke now we’re drinking plain old C-O-K-E coke.

Analysis:
The lyrics include a lot of content that is considered inappropriate for children, such as smoking, children drinking martinis, etc. The beginning of the lyrics is a bit rebellious, which is probably why children are so interested in speaking and sharing it. The rather complex lyrics and the simple melody are an interesting combination. Compared to the lyric, the song was very simple, consisting of one short melody that keeps repeating. Since the lyrics appeal to children and the melody is easy to sing, the song spread widely among children.