Tag Archives: children’s song

Sana Sana

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Houston, Texas
Performance Date: 4/16/2012
Primary Language: English

My informant grew up in Texas and was raised by her white and Puerto Rican mothers.  This is a healing chant that her Puerto Rican mother would sing to her whenever she had a scratch

Sana Sana

Colita de rana

Si nos sena ahora

Senaras mañana

 

In English it translates to:

Heal heal

Little frog

If you don’t heal today

you’ll heal tomorrow

 

My informant had a version that she would sing:

Sana sansa

Colita banana

Si nos ahora

Blahblbala

(kiss)

 

This song is a way of calming down the child when the child is hurt, but also invoking a bit of magic to help heal the child.  This version of the song comes from Puerto Rico, a very tropical place where little frogs are common.  This is an endearment to the child that also reminds the mother and child where the family is from, especially since the mother has moved away from her home and culture.  The second one that my informant would sing is a parody of the original in fractured Spanish which she did not speak fluently as a child.  It combined the “a kiss will make it better” with the Spanish song, much like her home which was combined with American and Puerto Rican cultures.  She made it rhyme like the original but it gets more and more jumbled as she goes on.

Children’s Jingle Bells

Nationality: American
Age: 57
Occupation: Finance (Retired)
Residence: Orange, CA
Performance Date: 4/15/12
Primary Language: English

To the tune of “Jingle Bells”

Jingle bells

Jingle bells

We will hear no more.

We have captured Butterballs

and nailed him to the floor.

 

Took his boots

and his loot

only left his socks.

We gave him a beach party

and dumped him off the docks

 

Splishy, splash

Splishy, splash

We will hear forever more

Now the Fat Man’s hauling toys

Across the ocean floor.

 

My informant learned this version of jingle bells from a friend of his in elementary school. He and the other “no talent brothers” sang a number of these songs throughout elementary school. This song is sung primarily at christmas time, especially in the car after a version of jingle bells is aired on the radio. The song originally demonstrated the children’s rebellion against parental influences as many children’s songs do. However, my father only introduced this song to my brother and I after we had entered high school, past the point that we would sing it ourselves, so now it reflects more his desire to show that he is still a child at heart.