Tag Archives: Folk song

“George Fox”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Washington, DC & Northampton, MA (college)
Performance Date: 4/17/2018
Primary Language: English

My friend Razi went to a Quaker summer camp in Virginia called Shiloh Quaker Camp for several years as a kid. She learned a number of folk songs with Quaker themes as a camper there. The following is a recording of Razi singing a song about George Fox, one of the founders of Quakerism, which she learned at camp and often sings, along with the lyrics:

There’s a light that was shining in the heart of man
It’s a light that was shining when the world began
There’s a light that is shining in the Turk and the Jew
There’s a light that is shining friend in me and in you (hey)

Walk in the light wherever you may be
Why don’t you walk in the light wherever you may be?
“In my old leather britches and my shaggy, shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the light,” said Fox.

“There’s a bell and a steeple and a book and a key
That will bind him forever but you can’t,” said he,
“For the book it will perish and the steeple will fall
But the light will be shining at the end of it all” (hey)

Walk in the light wherever you may be
Why don’t you walk in the light wherever you may be?
“In my old leather britches and my shaggy shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the light,” said Fox.

This song specifically celebrates the Quaker belief of the “inner light” or “light of God,” but its morals can be embraced by non-Quakers as well. Quakerism is a particularly open religion in terms of its acceptance of other religions, so songs that come out of the tradition can often be sung with the same conviction by people who have to particular affiliation with the religion. Razi is Jewish and agnostic, but she agrees with many of the values taught at Quaker camp, so songs like this one have stuck with her.

The Jasmine Song

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Beijing, China
Performance Date: April 10 2017
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Background of informant: 

My informant SS is an international student from Beijing, China.

The conversation was in Chinese.

Main piece:

SS: “It seems that most of the songs that I learned in middle school choir are Red Songs (Chinese Patriot songs), this one is an exception! [laugh] [pause] Oh, you know what, a part of the play Turandot was actually adapted from The Jasmine Song. ”

SH: Really? How so?

SS: “I remember hearing a story like, the play writer got a Chinese music box as a gift from a friend, and the song played in the box is Jasmine Song.”

SH: How did you know about this song?

SS: “hmm… [pause] it should be when I was really young, probably between kindergarten and elementary school. Maybe I was taught by kindergarten teachers.”

 

Context of the performance:

SS was singing in bath as she always does. I coincidentally heard she singing this familiar Chinese melody one day.

 

My thoughts about the piece:

Though this song, The Jasmine Song, is a familiar folksong all over China, I didn’t realize that there’s a variation of this song which depends on different region of China. Not only is the lyrics changed, the tune is different also. The southern version of the song is with more modification of tune within the song, and the lyric is written in southern dialect, while the northern version is more straightforward and is sang in Mandarin.

The Waltzing Matilda Song

Nationality: Australian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Australia
Performance Date: 4/26/2016
Primary Language: English

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
“Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?”

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
“You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me.”

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong.
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee.
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag
You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me.

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred.
Down came the troopers, one, two, and three.
“Whose is that jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?
You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me.”

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong.
“You’ll never take me alive!” said he
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong
“Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?”

The Walzing Matilda is a popular folk song that is well known throughout Australia. The story is about a man camping alone out in the Australian wilderness by a pond. Seeking companionship, he finds a wandering sheep and puts it in his food bag. The man who owns the land where the camper is staying on soon arrives with three officers, demanding that the sheep be returned to him. Instead of giving in, the camper jumps into the pond and drowns himself. His ghost stays by the pond, hoping to spend time with anyone who walks by. According to the informant, the song is an iconic Australian piece of folklore that is recognized by all Australians. It is often sang at celebrations and large group gatherings, as it unifies all Australians together.

The informant, Angus Guthrie, is a 20-year-old student who was born and raised in Australia. Because he and his family have been in the country for a very long time, he believes that he is quite familiar with Australian folklore and traditions. Angus learned the song from a children’s music album that he enjoyed listening to as a child. Many artists have covered and recorded this song over the years, so he believes that it is nearly impossible for an Australian to have never heard the song. He loves the song because it represents a different time period in Australia, where people walked across the land with few belongings and slept under stars. For Angus, this song evokes a strong sense of national nostalgia that all Australians can relate to.

Because Australian is a nation that was erected after taking over Aboriginal land, it is curious to see folklore that was created by Australians themselves instead of by the natives. Because the Aboriginals have such a rich history of folklore, it would be easy to simply reappropriate it for Australian audiences so that they wouldn’t have to make any folkloric pieces for themselves. Songs like this prove that this is not what occurred, however, as their lack of Aboriginal influence shows that Australians did create folklore for themselves.

 

Bath Song and Family History

Nationality: American - (Greek Cypriot, German, Argentinian)
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: Friday April 22nd, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: Greek, Mandarin

A is an 18-year-old woman. She is currently studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California. She considers her nationality to be American, but more specifically she is one quarter Greek Cypriote, one quarter German and half Argentinian. that being said, she strongly identifies with her Greek roots. She is fluent in both English and Greek, and is currently learning Mandarin.

A: Um, I don’t know if this is a me parable or family parable but I really hated taking baths when I was little, so they used to sing a song about a little kid who wouldn’t take baths and would turn into a pig. Cause she was so dirty. But I think its real because it actually has a tune, like I don’t think my Grandmother actually made up a song, but the song is like “I’m a little piggy, cause I stink a lot,” basically in Greek. And it goes like “well you’ll turn into a piggy too unless you take a bath.”

Me: Aww

A: So yeah, I was afraid I was gonna turn into a barnyard animal. It was fun.

Me: But you took the bath!

A: This is true.

Me: Did they sing this to your siblings? Do you have other siblings?

A: I don’t, I’m an only child. And this was with my grandparents too, and I’m the only grandchild as well.

Me: Aw. But you’ll probably do it with your kids too.

A: Oh yeah. It was so much fun. It’s got it’s own song! My grandfather told me a lot of stories about donkeys, I don’t remember exactly what they contain, but every story that had a moral always involved a donkey. Like a donkey on an adventure.

Me: Your grandparents liked farmyard animals is basically…

A: You know what, my grandparents grew up in the village with farmyard animals, so I’m sure this is how their parents told it to them.

Me: So the songs and the stories are like based on that?

A: Oh yeah. And it’s definitely based on the old village, which is like way the heck up in the mountains, like I’ve been there.

Me: Is there a name for it?

A: Yes, Ayiosgiannis. So my last name is the name of the village, just shortened. The name of the village is St. John’s in English. Um, Ayios is St. in English and that’s where Ayiotis, my last name is from.

Me: Ohhhh

A: So the last names were very frequently based on the area where you are from or like what you were called in the village. So I’m pretty sure my great-grandfather made up that name.

Me: So that’s generally where Greek last names come from?

A: I believe so. A lot of them, like a couple of them, are professions, but a lot of the ones are places.

Me: So places and professions but mostly places?

A: Actually let me rephrase. If you got out of the village then it’s a place cause you wanted to honor your village, but for people in the village, why would they all have the same last name as the village?

Me: True.

A: So it was in the village it was by profession or by nickname or sometimes you will genuinely find people name “Andreas Andreou” like “Phillip Phillipou,” like people with the same last name as their first name, and it’s very funny. Um they’ll do like men’s first names as well as last names cause that was your dad’s dad. So basically common ways to distingush between people with the same name in a village.

Me: So your last name, does it change?

A: It can. We didn’t have last names until the British came and were like “why the heck do you not have last names?” And that was in the 30s, um the 20s. Yeah, Cyprus was a British colony up until the 60’s.

Me: Wow.

A:  Um that’s when they gained their independence.

Me: You didn’t have last names until the 20’s?

A: Yeah, why would we need it? We’re farmers, we’re farming.

Me: That’s true.

A: I remember my grandfather was born in like 1934 and he told me he saw a car in his village once when he was like nine years old and that was probably the only car on the island of Cyprus, driving through all the villages like “oh my god I bought a car!” So it was very…

Me: Secluded?

A: Yeah. And it’s still very farm-heavy. Its still agricultural.

Me: Is Cyprus an island off of Greece?

A: It’s an island actually closer to Lebanon than it is to Greece. It’s north of Egypt and south of Turkey in the Mediterranean Ocean, but since that area used to all be ethnically Greek in the Greek, Egyptian, and Ottoman Empire and since Cyprus is an island it saw less change over time as more people moved in and out because it’s harder to conquer an island. So the people who are Greek there, like our dialect of Greek is more similar to ancient Greek.

A talks about a song that her grandparents used to sing to her when she was little to get her to take a bath. This is a fond memory that she has and she said that it works, the song was effective in making her believe that if she were not to take a bath, she would turn into a pig. A also explains that the song might have to do with her grandfather’s origins, which are especially important to her as the root of her last name is the name of the village. Her grandfather lived in a very agricultural, farm-heavy village, and this is likely where the song originated. The dirt being the result of farming all day, and turning into a pig being the result of not cleaning yourself, so turning into one of your farm animals. The name, the village, and the song are all connected in one way or another.

“Raiders” Fraternal Song

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/18/13
Primary Language: English

The informant speaks about a certain song his fraternity sings with everyone after brotherhood events such as bid night.  The informant learned this tradition a few weeks after joining his fraternity.  He explains that the fraternity uses this song as a means for celebrating as well and often uses the song after events that warrant a worthy celebration.  The fraternity brothers either run out to the middle of the street or to their backyard and circle up and perform the song.  The singing of the song is described as being very loud and rowdy, but in a good-spirited way.  Below are the lyrics of the song.  See below:

OOOOOOHHHHHHHH!

We’re (insert fraternity) raiders of the night,

A bunch of rowdy bastards that rather fuck than fight,

So fuck ‘em, fuck ‘em, fuck ‘em, who the fuck are we?

We’re (insert fraternity) the best fraternity.

(insert fraternity) once, (insert fraternity) twice, holy jumping Jesus Christ,

God damn, son of a bitch, rah rah fuck!

Yeah hell yeah!

The informant describes the purpose of this song as a chance for the brothers of the fraternity to all come together and feel the fraternal bond.  I find this song intriguing because it a classic example of how a certain group of people use traditions such as music to strengthen their connection with one another.  A commonly shared song can serve to build just a much stronger bond than does paying the dues for the house to be an active member.