Title: “The Black Birthday Song”

General Information about Item:

• Lore type:  Song
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: The United States
• Informant: Caroline S.
• Date Collected: May 8, 2019

Informant Data:

• Caroline Smith is from Long Beach, California. Her mother is from Louisiana, and her dad is from Jamaica but moved to America when he was six. She has one older brother. Caroline is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She was born on August 14, 1999.

Contextual Data:

• This song is sung while having cake and blowing out the candles. There is usually a lot of extended family around.  Caroline’s uncle created this song by adding to Stevie Wonder’s version of “Happy Birthday.”

Item:

Informant’s Comments:

• This is called the Black Birthday Song because it has more “pop.”

Collector’s Comments: 

• As Arnold van Gennep taught us, rituals mark different stages of a rite of passage. Since this ritual occurs on the birthday day, it seems to be an incorporation ritual. It is incorporating the birthday person into the new year.
• Also, and perhaps obviously, it seems like this song is meant to put focus on the birthday person and celebrate him/her.