Tag Archives: chant

“Locker Room Pre-Game Chant” (Jake Guidone)

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  1. General Info
    • Locker room tradition
    • Type of Lore: Verbal/Customary
    • Informant: DG
    • Place of Origin: Providence, RI
  2. Informant Data:
    1. Daniel Gioioso is a twenty-two year old male who plays football at Union College. Daniel, who goes by Dan, was born in Newton Massachusetts but raised in Walpole Massachusetts. Dan attended Xaverian Brothers High School where his love of football flourished. Currently, he resides in Schenectady, New York, where he attends Union College and has played football for the past four years. 
  3. Contextual Data:
    1. The Union football team has seen great success since Dan joined the team in 2017. They recently won their national championship at the division 2 level. Dan started for the team throughout his entire collegiate career, and has helped Union by recruiting kids, and improving the culture at the school.
  4. Text/Tradition:
    1. To do this, Dan, amongst the other players, employ a locker room chant to get the players riled up and ready to play. This chant is a tradition at Union that had fallen off a little before Dan’s arrival. This chant was inherited from the older players, and said before every game. The chant is 16 lines, and the captain of the team gets in the middle of all the players in the locker room. This chant helps to build character, and ignites the fighting passion of the Union football players.
    2. Here are a few lines:
      1. “As I walk across the field today, it comforts me to know that I am the roughest, toughest guy on the field. I have been coached well, I show no mercy, so help me God”. 

A Chant and a Prayer (Tanner Palocsik)

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Title: A Chant and a Prayer

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Magic Superstition, sympathetic
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: C.B.
  • Date Collected: 11-1-21

Informant Data:

  • C.B. is a 21-year-old student athlete at Dartmouth College in the class of 2023. He is from Texas and is on the football team. He was raised very closely to his family and has a special relationship to his father.  

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Superstitions are important to sports teams. In football there are many players on the team that all contribute to the win. In C.B.’s case, Texas football is one of the most serious things in this country. They have a ton of pride in their teams and victory.     
  • Social Context: Team’s rely on every guy to contribute toward a winning effort. C.B.’s superstition came from his father who may have learned it from his father before him or somewhere else, he wasn’t certain of the whole chain. He is strongly religious in the Christian faith and performs his superstition before every game. This is something that puts Cameron in the most optimal mindset heading into

Item:

  • The item here is a superstition unique to C.B. Before every game he calls his father on the phone and says a prayer right before he is about to go on the field. He believes that God’s power gives him strength and confidence going into the game and that this will help him perform to the best of his abilities. Another is a team superstition where they all say the same chant before heading out for the game.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

  • “I pray with my dad before going out to the field before every game. I started this my freshman year in high school when he would physically be with me to do it but now I just call him before each game right as I’m about to go out to the field and he is expecting it as well. This one originated from my faith and just the fact that I want to glorify God before anything else in my life. I definitely believe strongly in this one.”
  • “As far as team stuff goes, we all start chanting “juice” together loudly in the locker room. Then one of the leaders on the team (it will be the same guy for that whole year) will chant “juice check” three times and then we all finish it off with one more shout saying “juice” And that tradition has been going since I’ve been here”

Informant’s Comments:

  • He believes in these superstitions and believes in their power to help him perform and the team get a win.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I think this is a very powerful superstition. It clearly has some power that enables him and their team to perform. They have an extremely good record and won the Ivy League Championship last year.

Collector’s Name:

Tanner Palocsik

Dartmouth College

Russia 013 Fall 2021

Professors Apresyan and Gronas

Yale Superstitions

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Title: Yale Superstitions – Grace Lee

General Information about Item:

  • Customary and Verbal Lore, Magic Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Grace Lee
  • Date Collected: 11/15/21

Informant Data:

  • Grace Lee is a female student-athlete at Yale University and is in the class of 2023. She is from Colorado and is currently 21 years old. She is living in Connecticut and is currently out of the lineup of her team due to a hamstring injury. She plans to pursue a career in business after college. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is being part of a group that participates in the chant that is passed down from team to team.  
  • Social Context: The social context is chanting with a group of girls and saying the same words at the same time. They collectively put their arms around each other and say the words in unison. 

Item:

  • This item is a customary type of folklore under the genre of magic superstition, and also includes verbal folklore. Grace performs this superstition before each home game. 

Transcript:

  • “My coach calls each line into the hallway for a line meeting before each game, encouraging us to work together and we do a small cheer to bring up our energy levels. This allows us to feel motivated and have a positive attitude while working on communication.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Grace described being part of group superstitions rather than individual, commenting that she recommends expanding groups to feel inclusive and more part of a team. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • I thought it was unique that Grace only described this superstition and did not mention and individual ones, placing emphasis on how the meeting and chant created a uniqueness to her team that she has never felt before and if they met and did the chant together they had complete trust in each other and would play well. 

Collector’s Name: Currie Putrah 

Post-practice chant

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Title: Post-practice chant

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Verbal and Customary Folklore
    • Subgenre: chant
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Will Kaufman ’20 is a 19-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Boulder, CO. He is the middle child between two sisters. He started rowing his freshman fall upon entering Dartmouth. As a walk-on rower, he came in knowing nothing about the sport.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: The chant occurs at the end of each practice. It involves a huddle, hands in toward the center, one person leading the chant, the whole team responding, throwing up the hands, and breaking from the circle. Afterwards, teammates go to dinner together, take showers, or split up. The coaches are not involved in the chant.

Cultural Context: In the athletic team culture, everything is about the group, not the individual. The rowers are a cohesive group that spend a significant amount of time together in the effort of creating strong bonds and success in competition. This chant helps bring everyone together at the end of practice to show that they are part of one team with the same goals. Their effort is beyond one practice or one individual.

Item: This chant occurs at the end of each practice. In a huddle the teammates put their hands in toward the center, recite the chant, throw up their hands, and break up.

Associated media:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaI34nMCWuc

Transcript of Associated File: “Let’s get a ‘Green’ on 3! 1, 2, 3 GREEN!”

Informant’s Comments: The informant emphasized the regularity and importance of this chant: “It feels weird if practice ends and everyone leaves” without doing the chant. That never happens.

Collector’s Comments:

  • The chant is a formal indicator of the end of a routine time of bonding.
  • The informant noted that when first learning this chant, the walk-on rowers are separated from the rest of the team, learn the chant, and are incorporated with the rest, where the entire team can perform the chant together. In this way, the events centered around the first chant resemble elements of a rite of passage.

Collector’s Name: Sam Gochman

Tags/Keywords: D150, Dartmouth Light-Weight Rowing, Chant, Customary, Verbal

My Name is David

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Title:

General Information about Item:

  • Genre and Sub Genre: Verbal, chant
  • Example: Customary Folklore: chants
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant Data:

Insert Informant Data Here: Kenneth Moussavian is a 19’ in Dartmouth College.  He is on the Water Polo team and has been playing water polo since high school. He was born and raised in Los Altos Hills and both his parents are from Iran.

Contextual Data:

  • Many sports teams, especially at Dartmouth, have inside jokes and chants that creates a bond between team members. After ever practice the team will recite a chant called “my name is David”.

Item:

Insert Item Here: The chant the entire team participates in is called “my name is David” each member of the team will add their own unique beat and repeat saying “my name is David”. Although David becomes annoyed when the team makes fun of him. This unites the team thus creating better chemistry during matches.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Informant’s Comments:

  • Insert Informant’s Comments Here: Although David becomes annoyed when the team makes fun of him. This “hypes up the team” thus creating better chemistry during matches.

 

Collector’s Comments:

  • Insert Collector’s Comments Here: the water polo team is very close and feel comfortable mocking each other. The chant also creates a bond between all the team members when they make fun of David.

Collector’s Name: Jonathan Schneck

Tags/Keywords:

  • Insert Tags/Keywords Here: Chants

Post Meetings Chant

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Post meetings song/chant

  • Informant info
    • Junior sorority member Dartmouth College
  • Type of lore (verbal, material or customary), Genre, Subgenre
    • Verbal
  • Language
    • English
  • Country of Origin
    • United States
  • Social / Cultural Context
    • this song/chant is performed to end meetings every week
  • Transcript (if verbal lore)
    • “OHHHHh Pat said she what said he tell me the truth said he what do you think is the best fraternity oh said he that’s easy, easy to see said he nobody’s better than KKG. Oh kappa kappa kappa gamma Im so happy that I amma kappa kappa kappa gamma nobody knows how happy I am”
  • Informant’s comments
    • This song has been performed for as long as anybody currently in the sorority can remember

 

 

Bid Day Chant

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Bid Day Chant

  • Informant info
    • Junior in sorority at Penn State University
  • Type of lore (verbal, material or customary), Genre, Subgenre
    • Verbal
  • Language
    • English
  • Country of Origin
    • United States
  • Social / Cultural Context
    • This chant is sung at Bid Day to attract new members to the sorority and a bonding experience with all of the younger girls who have received a bid.
    • Transcript (if verbal lore)
      • “Pi Pi beta phi p-i-p-h-i Pi phi. P for I for beta phi for I just love pi beta phi”
  • Informant’s comments
    • This is chanted continuously on Bid Day every year. It is a sense of pride for our sorority as we try to attract new members amongst the crowd of all sororities
  • Collector’s comments
    • The sorority and the informant are kept anonymous. Similar folklore was recorded at Dartmouth.
    • This version of verbal folk is seen throughout the country as a traditional welcome into the house. Over the years and across national organizations, the location of performance, song choice, and dances used during the recruitment process vary greatly, but they all contain key reoccurring components such as full house involvement, matching outfits (potentially material lore), and synchronized dance moves (Texas A&M video below of examples of Bid Day “Door Chants” from 2014 and Colorado State University from 2009).

 

Army Marching Cadence

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Title: Army Marching Cadence

Informant info: Informant name is Jason Laackmann. Jason is twenty-eight years old and attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH as a United States Army Veteran. Jason served in the Army for five years in active duty and continues to serve in the Minnesota National Guard. The locations in which he has served are Fort Bend, Georgia, Fort Riley, Kansas, and overseas in Eastern Afghanistan.

Type of lore: Verbal Folklore, Songs

Language: English

Country of Origin: USA

Social / Cultural Context: Jason was interviewed at Dartmouth College. Jason was asked if he remembered any songs that they would sing during his training or time in the Army. He was asked to sing these songs out loud, but was too shy and sent the lyrics to me via email instead.

Associated File: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6KcnEdk7Q4

Transcript:  [I have recorded the item exactly how it was sent to me in the email]:

Below are a few running/marching cadences.

I don’t know but I think I might

Jump from an airplane while in flight

Soldier, soldier, have you heard

I’m gonna jump from a big iron bird

Up in the morning in the drizzlin’ rain

Packed my chute and boarded the plane

C-130 rollin’ down the strip

64 Rangers on a one-way trip

Mission Top Secret, destination unknown

They don’t know if their ever coming home

When my plane gets up so high

Airborne troopers gonna dance in the sky

Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door

Jump right out and count to four

If my main don’t open wide

I got a reserve by my side

If that one should fail me too

Look out ground, I’m a-coming through

If I die on the old drop zone

Box me up and ship me home

When I get to heaven

St. Peter’s gonna say,

“How’d you earn your livin’ boy,

How’d you earn your pay?”

I’ll reply with a whole lot of anger,

“Made my living as an Airborne Ranger!

Blood, guts, sex, and danger

That’s the life of an Airborne Ranger!”

When I get to Hell

Satan’s gonna say,

“How’d you earn your livin’ boy,

How’d you earn your pay?”

I’ll reply with a fist to his face,

 

“Made my living laying SOULS to waste!”

 

Momma told Johnny not to go downtown

There’s too many Rangers hanging around

Johnny didn’t listen and he went anyway

To hear what the Rangers had to say

Johnny got a ticket to Afghanistan

To fight the people call the taliban

Johnny fought hard and Johnny fought brave

Johnny jumped on a hand grenade

Momma momma now don’t you cry

AIRBORNE RANGERS ARE BORN TO DIE!

Informant’s comments: Jason has sung these songs multiple times during his time serving, but decided that singing out loud during the interview was too far out of place.

Collector’s comments: Though Jason was too shy to sing the songs out loud, he was more than willing to share the lyrics to the songs and had emailed them to me right after the interview.

The Recon Creed

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Title: The Recon Creed

Informant info: Graham “Ossie” Osborn. Informant attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH as a United States Marine Corps Veteran. Informant was a member of the First Reconnaissance Battalion.

Type of lore: Customary/Verbal, Tradition, Ritual, Song

Language: English

Country of Origin: USA

Social / Cultural Context: Informant was interviewed at Dartmouth College. Informant was asked about his a unit song or chant.  Informant was in the Marines in the First Recon Battalion is their is their battalion creed.

Associated file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z1us1frzhrn0u2t/IMG_7545.MOV?dl=0

Transcript: Item: [I have recorded the item exactly how it was told to me in the interview]: There was not a song, but there was the “Recon Creed.” It is hard for me to remember, but it is every single every single word begins with it. So “R” was realizing this was my choice and my choice alone. The Recon Creed is out there just like the Ranger Creed for the Army. It is important for a lot of people and I knew it backwards and forwards 10 years ago.

Informant’s comments: Joked about how it is one of those things you say so many times, but then you can’t actually remember it when you try.

Collector’s comments:  Informant had a certain cadence to his voice when he began to share the chant.