Tag Archives: Verbal Lore

Locker Room Prayer (Zack Bair)

  1. General Information
    1. Informant: MJ Wright
    2. Place of Origin: New York City, New York
    3. Verbal Lore
  2. Informant Data
    1. MJ Wright is currently a 20-year-old junior on the Fordham University football team. MJ is originally from Freehold, New Jersey. MJ played high school football at Red Bank Catholic High School.
  3. Contextual Data
    1. Fordham University, a Jesuit university founded in 1841, puts great emphasis and importance in the religious aspect of the university. This religious emphasis carries over onto the Fordham football team in their locker room prior to games with the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.
  4. Item
    1. The Lord’s Prayer is a common prayer, recited at almost every Christian mass. The prayer goes:
    2. Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth,

as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

forever. Amen.

  1. Informant Comments
    1. The religious aspect of the university is still very important within the football team. This is something I’m used to having attended a Catholic high school where we had a similar tradition.”
  2. Collector’s Name: Zack Bair

Faith and Honor Held High (Donald Carty

Title: Faith and Honor Held High

General Information about Item:

  • Verbal Lore; Pre-Game Prayer
  • Place of Origin: Dallas, TX
  • Informant: Ben Taber

Informant Data:

  • Ben Taber is a 22-year-old male. He is currently a member of the class of 2022 at Colorado State University. Ben is from Dallas, Texas, where he played football at the Episcopal School of Dallas (ESD).

Contextual Data:

  • ESD is a religious school that tries to instill Episcopalian values in their students. Students at ESD attend chapel services daily. These religious values extend beyond the chapel services, they are also present in the classroom and on the athletic fields. Coaches at ESD make sure their athletes compete with faith, honor, and sportsmanship in mind.

Item:

  • In the locker room, immediately before every game, the players at ESD say a prayer together, led by one of the team captains. The text of the prayer is as follows:

Lord as we walk through the Valley of Life

We ask for a chance that it’s fair

A chance to do the right

A chance to do or dare

And if we should win

Let it be by the code

With Faith and Honor held high

And if we should lose

Let us stand by the road

And watch as the winners walk by

(*Voices escalate to a yell*)

A TEAM THAT CAN’T BE BEAT

WON’T BE BEAT

CAN’T HIT, CAN’T WIN

AMEN

  • This prayer is meant to bring the players closer to God, remind them of the values of the school they are representing, and get them excited to compete. The author of this prayer is unknown, and this tradition has been in place at ESD for at least 10 years.

Collector’s Name: Donald Carty

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal Lore
  • Prayer
  • Locker Room Traditions
  • Football

Battle of the Shoes (Donald Carty)

Title: Battle of the Shoes

General Information about Item:

  • Verbal/Customary Lore
  • Place of origin: Los Angeles, California
  • Informant: Wesley Banks
  • Date Collected: October 30, 2021

Informant Data:

Wesley Banks is a 21-year-old male. He was born in Los Angeles, California, and moved to Dallas, Texas during his childhood. He grew up playing football in Texas, and he went on to play Division 3 football at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Wesley is in his fourth season with the Occidental football team.

Contextual Data:

Occidental Football has an ongoing rivalry with Whittier College that dates back to 1939. This rivalry is known as the “Battle of the Shoes” or the “Shoes Game”. The rivalry began when Occidental Football players stole 1940 Whittier graduate Myron Claxton’s cleats the night before the game was meant to be played. This forced Claxton to play the whole game in his work boots. Despite this Whittier won the game, and Claxton retrieved his cleats. After this game, Claxton’s stolen cleats were bronzed and turned into a trophy that Occidental and Whittier compete for every year.

Item:

Throughout the week leading up to this rivalry game, senior football players on Occidental’s team attempt to steal cleats from younger players’ lockers. The thefts are blamed on a mysterious ghost named “Hector”, the man who supposedly stole Myron Claxton’s cleats in 1939. As the week of practice comes to an end, an alumnus of the team that is “old enough that most people on the team don’t know who he is,” enters the locker room dressed in football pads and work boots. He is meant to play the role of Hector, and he gives the players a speech to remind them of the meaning of the rivalry and motivate them to perform well. Both the stealing of cleats and the motivational speech serve to remind players on Occidental’s team of the history behind the rivalry with Whittier. This tradition outdates Wesley’s time at Occidental, and the origin is unknown.

Informant’s Comments: “If you’re a freshman you have no idea who this Hector guy is, but he gives this motivational speech and you learn the history of this rivalry.”

Collector’s Name: Donald Carty

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal/customary Lore
  • Rivalry
  • Locker Room Traditions
  • Football

Fight, Raiders, Fight (Cameron Baller)

Title: Fight, Raiders, Fight

General Information About Item:

  • Verbal Lore, Fight Song
  • Language: English
  • Origin: Texas Tech University
  • Informant: D.N.
  • Date Collected: 10-28-21

Informant Data:

  • D.N. is a 33-year-old male. He was born and raised in Highland Village, Texas. He currently lives in Corinth, Texas. He has been a high school strength coach for four years and was a strength coach at the collegiate level before that. He played college football at the University of Texas Tech and was a defensive lineman from 2007-2011.

Contextual Data:

  • D.N. attended the University of Texas Tech which was established in 1923 and has deep roots in football especially being in Texas. Their fight song was written in 1930 as part of a contest sponsored by the school newspaper. The song represents the passion and pride that the player, coaches, and fans have for their school. Singing the song in the locker room is a way for the team to take ownership of the locker room and field and that it meant something to play for the university in front of their fans at home.

Item:

  • After games, the team would enter the locker room and sing the school fight song titled “Fight, Raiders, Fight” as seen below. The song is also known as “The Matador Song”. As the team finishes singing the song, the whole team would chant: “In the home of the…” and then give a big yell saying “Raiders!”.

Fight, matadors, for Tech,

Songs of love we sing to thee,

Bear our banners far and wide,

Ever will be our pride,

Fearless champions ever be,

Stand on heights of victory,

Strive for honor evermore,

Long live the Matadors!

“In the home of the…Raiders!”

Transcript:

  • “Post-game we would sing our school fight song as a team and then everybody would finish with the line “In the home of the…” and then everybody would yell “Raiders” really loud.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “I think it was just a way to take ownership of our locker room and our field and that it meant something to play for the university and win football games at home in front of our home crowd.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this fight song to also be a song of unity and togetherness for the team. It honors the university and allows those who sing it remind themselves of the commitment of those before them.

Collector’s Name: Cameron Baller

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal Lore
  • Football
  • Locker Room Traditions
  • Song
  • Texas Tech University

Hail Purdue (Cameron Baller)

Title: Hail Purdue

General Information About Item:

  • Verbal Lore, Fight Song
  • Language: English
  • Origin: Purdue University
  • Informant: C.W.
  • Date Collected: 11-1-21

Informant Data:

  • C.W. is a 31-year-old male. He was born in Arlington, Texas and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas. He currently lives Flower Mound, Texas and works in real estate development. He attended Purdue University and was a kicker on the football team for four years. After his time at Purdue, he had a three-year stint in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts.  

Contextual Data:

  • C.W. attended Purdue University which was established in 1869 and has a rich tradition especially surrounding football. Their fight song was written in 1912 by a student by the name of James R. Morrison. The song represents school pride and is a tradition on the football team that has lasted for a while.

Item:

  • After every win, the football team enters the locker room and sings the Purdue fight song titled “Hail Purdue!” and is seen below. The song is sung differently in the locker room compared to when it is sung elsewhere. When the football team sings it in the locker room, it is done so more quickly and with a clapping cadence which differs from other times it is sung. At the end of the song, the team then gives a shout saying: “Boiler Up!”.

To your call once more we rally;

Alma mater hear our praise;

Where the Wabash spreads it valley,

Filled with joy our voices raise.

From the skies of swelling echoes

Come the cheers that tell the tale

Of your vict’ries and your heroes,

Hail Purdue! We sing all hail!

Hail, hail to old Purdue!

All hail to our old gold and black!

Hail, hail to old Purdue!

Our friendship may she never lack.

Every grateful, ever true,

Thus we raise our song anew

Of the days we’ve spent with you,

All hail our own Purdue!

When in after years we’re turning,

Alma mater, back to you,

May our hearts with love be yearning

For the scenes of old Purdue.

Back among your pathways winding

Let us seek what lies before,

Fondest hopes and aims e’er finding,

While we sing of day of yore.

Hail, hail to old Purdue!

All hail to our old gold and black!

Hail, hail to old Purdue!

Our friendship may she never lack.

Every grateful, ever true,

Thus we raise our song anew

Of the days we’ve spent with you,

All hail our own Purdue!

Transcript:

  • “After the victories, which there weren’t many, we would sing the fight song. And this might be a little bit different than somewhere else because for whatever reason we sang it much faster and with a clapping cadence. So you sing the fight song our in the studnet section or during it game it would be slower but in the locker room it would be really fast with a hand clap throughout the entire process and then a big “Boiler Up!” at the end.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “The fight song itself probably has to do with school pride because it is literally the fight song to fight and win against the opponent. Not too sure why its faster. Maybe that’s just the way that the football team has always done it.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this fight song to be particularly interesting because of its length. Most fight songs that I have seen are not this long but a committed student at Purdue Univesity would happily know the whole song word for word.

Collector’s Name: Cameron Baller

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal Lore
  • Purdue University
  • Locker Room Traditions
  • Song
  • Football

Indiana, Our Indiana (Cameron Baller)

Title: Indiana, Our Indiana

General Information About Item:

  • Verbal Lore, fight song
  • Language: English
  • Origin: Indiana University
  • Informant: A.B.
  • Date Collected: 10-23-21

Informant Data:

  • A.B. is a 19-year-old male. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia but moved to Dallas, Texas when he was four years old and was raised there. He currently lives in Bloomington, India as he attends Indiana University. He is a student athlete at Indiana University who plays football and majors in media.

Contextual Data:

  • A.B. attends Indiana University which was established in 1820 and has rich tradition especially surrounding football. Their fight song was written by Russell P. Harker and first played during a football game in November of 1912. The song represents the passion and pride that the players, coaches, and fans have for their school. They want to first honor God through the Lord’s prayer and then honor and show loyalty to their school by singing the fight song.

Item:

  • Immediately after every game, they enter into the locker and perform the Lord’s prayer. Also, if they won, they would sing their fight song “Indiana, Our Indiana” as seen below. The song is sung three times. The first time it is sung loud and proud, the second time it is sung quietly with snapping, and the third time it is sung loud again with a lot of energy. This tradition has been going for at least 60 years as one of Andy’s coaches who was a former player over 60 years ago used to do the same thing.

Indiana, Our Indiana

Indiana, we’re all for you

We will fight for

The Cream and Crimson

For the glory of old IU

Never daunted, we cannot falter

In the battle, we’re tried and true

Indiana, our Indiana Indiana, we’re all for you!

Transcript:

  • “For one, immediately after the game we come into the locker room and say the Lord’s prayer and give honor to Him first and foremost. And then after a win, we will sing our fight song which is a very cool tradition that we have. We enjoy those wins and like to give glory to the school, each other, and God. We sing our fight song three times. The first time we sing it out loud, and then we do really softly and snap our fingers, and then lastly we sing it really loud and hype.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “I’m not too sure when the tradition started. It has definitely been there for a long time, like at least 60 years. I’m not sure of the meaning behind the fight song at first but to us, its defintely something we look forward to and really enjoy a lot.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I thought it was interesting that the team will sing the song once softly while snapping thier finger and then sing it loudly at the end. It’s almost like a way to crescendo the energy from the song.

Collector’s Name: Cameron Baller

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal Lore
  • Football
  • Locker Room Traditions
  • Indiana University
  • Song

Bequest (Nathan Zhang)

Title: Bequest

General Information:

         Customary Lore: Tradition

         Verbal Lore: Slang

         Language: English

         Country of Origin: United States

         Informant: JV ’22

         Date Collected: 11/03/21

         Location Collected: Topliff Tennis Courts at Dartmouth

Informant Data: 

JV ’22 is a 22-year-old male from Newton, Massachusetts. He is a member of the Dartmouth Class of 2022, and he is majoring in Computer Science. Outside of the classroom, JV ’22 is involved with the Club Tennis team, DREAM, and Alpha Chi Alpha. He plans to work in the technology industry as a software engineer upon graduation.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: JV ’22 and I were playing tennis at the Topliff Tennis Courts when he shared this piece of folklore with me. The piece of folklore is a tradition, and he first learned of the tradition and the slang term used to describe it during the spring term of his freshman year at Dartmouth. Specifically, he learned about this piece of folklore in the context of one of the clubs he is involved with, the club tennis team. Here, the graduating senior members of the club tennis team handed down different physical items to the other members of the team before graduating. These items, and the tradition of seniors handing down meaningful items, is referred to as ‘bequests’. JV ’22 and all of the members of the club tennis team were present when the folklore was performed. Here, the seniors at the time were performing the tradition of handing down items, and everyone else in the club was happy and positively impacted by the folklore performance, as they received meaningful things from students that were their friends and graduating. This folklore is normally performed within different clubs and organizations, especially clubs and organizations that are smaller, more exclusive, and more tight-knit. The tradition is always when seniors will hand down items to other members of the organization. These items typically have some meaning behind them.
  • Cultural Context: Here, the relevant cultural context is that the informant is a student at Dartmouth College who is involved with smaller, exclusive, tight-knit clubs and organizations. First, this customary folklore is known to all Dartmouth students and performed by many graduating seniors. More importantly, however, it is performed by students who are graduating and are involved with clubs and organizations that are small, exclusive, and tight-knit. This is likely because the items handed down during these traditions are meaningful, and, as a result, seniors will give them to other students that they have spent a lot of time with. Furthermore, many of these items that are handed down stay within a club or organization. Bequest have a positive connotation, because they are meaningful things that are handed down by seniors to other students. They typically have a positive impact on one’s Dartmouth experience.

Item: 

Bequest: A customary lore in which seniors, typically within a club or organization, will hand down different items to other non-graduating students, typically within the same club or organization as the seniors. It is also used as verbal lore to refer to the tradition, as well as the items that are handed down during the tradition. For example, used in a sentence: “I was bequested this shirt from a ’20 in my fraternity.”

Associated File: 

“Bequests, I think, are a really cool tradition at Dartmouth. I remember freshman year on the club tennis team when one of the seniors bequested me an old wooden racquet that had been passed down through the club for almost a decade. It was very meaningful because I was very close with this senior. That was when I first learned about bequests, and the entire club tennis team had met at one of the senior’s apartment for the seniors to do bequests. Everyone at Dartmouth should know this word, but the actual tradition itself is performed pretty much exclusively within clubs. I think bequest is an actual word, but here at Dartmouth we just use it to describe this specific tradition.”

Informant’s Comments: 

Bequests are really meaningful to both the senior handing it down and the person who receives it. When I graduate this year, I’m excited to pass down a lot of the bequests that I got from seniors, as well as a lot of my own belongings that I plan to hand down.

Collector’s Comments: 

The term bequest means the act of bequeathing something, typically in one’s will. At Dartmouth, it specifically refers to a meaningful tradition that is performed within clubs. As mentioned, it is both customary lore and verbal lore. It is customary in that it is a tradition that many students participate in within the context of a club. It is verbal in that it is a slang term that every student at Dartmouth knows and uses.

Collector’s Name: Nathan Zhang

Tags / Keywords: FA21, FA21-Grp-03, Dartmouth, Customary Lore, Tradition, Verbal Lore, Slang, Students, Dartmouth Clubs

Blitz (Nathan Zhang)

Title: Blitz

General Information:

         Verbal Lore: Slang

         Language: English

         Country of Origin: United States

         Informant: SW ’22

         Date Collected: 11/04/21

         Location Collected: First Floor Baker-Berry Library

Informant Data: 

SW ’22 is a 21-year-old female from Houston, Texas. She is a member of the Dartmouth Class of 2022, and she is majoring in Linguistics modified with Economics and minoring in French. Outside of the classroom, SW ’22 is involved with the Sugarplum dance group, Women in Business, Women in Student Business, Social Impact Nonprofit Consulting, and Kappa Kappa Gamma. She plans to work in the consulting industry upon graduation.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: SW ’22 was studying in the Baker-Berry Library when she shared this piece of verbal lore with me. She first learned the term as a first-year student during First-Year Trips. Trips is an orientation experience where incoming first-year students spend a few days in the outdoors with 6-8 other first-year students and two upperclassmen mentors. On her trip, SW ’22 learned about the verbal slang ‘Blitz’ when her two upperclassmen mentors did an activity with her and the other first-year students on her trip where they specifically listed off a number of Dartmouth slang terms and defined them. Blitz was one of those words, and SW ’22 and the other 6-8 first-year students learned how to perform this piece of folklore. This piece of verbal slang is performed reguarly and used by all students at Dartmouth.
  • Cultural Context: Here, the relevant cultural context is that the informant is a student at Dartmouth College. This piece of folklore is known to and used by all Dartmouth students and is a type of verbal slang. It is commonly used casually between students when referring to emails that are sent from one Dartmouth email account to another Dartmouth account – or accounts. It is specifically used in reference to emails sent from Dartmouth clubs or organizations to large groups of students, or in reference to emails sent in academic settings. Blitz can have both a positive and negative connotation, depending mostly on the situation. For example, for a first-year student, a campus-wide email blitz sent by a club that they may be interested in would be exciting, and thus blitz would have a positive connotation. That same campus-wide blitz, however, could be found as annoying to an upperclassmen student who knows they are not interested in the club, and thus blitz would have a negative connotation.

Item: 

Blitz: Short for “Blitz Web Access”. Blitz refers to an email sent from one Dartmouth account to another. For example, used in a sentence: “Did you get that campus-wide blitz about COVID restrictions?”

Associated File: 

“A word I learned while on trips was ‘Blitz’. Blitz is basically a Dartmouth email sent between two Dartmouth accounts. I learned it when my trip leaders sat down with me and my other tripees and explained a bunch of different Dartmouth slang words to us. This term is used by everyone at Dartmouth, and it came to be because it’s short for ‘Blitz Web Access’.”

Informant’s Comments: 

Dartmouth likes to be niche about a lot of things, and they have their own lingo. Blitz is just one of those words.

Collector’s Comments: 

Blitz is a piece of Dartmouth slang that is known to and used by everyone. There may be some Dartmouth students that do not know that it is short for ‘Blitz Web Access’.

In her transcript, SW ’22 refers to the terms ‘trip leaders’ and ‘tripees’. ‘Trip leaders’ references the upperclassmen mentors on first-year trips, and ‘tripees’ refers to the other incoming first-year students who are on someone’s trip.

Collector’s Name: Nathan Zhang

Tags / Keywords: FA21, FA21-Grp-03, Dartmouth, Verbal Lore, Slang, Students, Email, Dartmouth Clubs

BEMA (Nathan Zhang)

Title: BEMA

General Information:

         Verbal Lore: Slang

         Language: English

         Country of Origin: United States

         Informant: NC ’23

         Date Collected: 11/07/21

         Location Collected: Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth

Informant Data: 

NC ’23 is a 20-year-old male from Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of the Dartmouth Class of 2023, and he is studying Engineering and History. Outside of the classroom, NC ’23 is involved with the Triathlon team, Hillel, DOC, Ledyard, and Alpha Chi Alpha.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: NC ’23 was studying in Thayer when he shared this piece of folklore with me. He first learned the term as a first-year student while participating in the Twilight Ceremony. The Twilight Ceremony is where members of the newest incoming class at Dartmouth – in this case, the Class of 2023 – are passed candles from the graduating class and participate in a procession. At the ceremony, upperclassmen and faculty used the term “BEMA” to describe the location they were walking to. The entire Dartmouth Class of 2023 was present, though they were not partaking in the performance. In addition, upperclassmen and faculty were present to help with the ceremony, and they were participating in the use of this verbal slang. After the ceremony, most of the Class of 2023 students learned about this piece of folklore and likely participated in future use of the term. While this specific performance was generated by the Twilight Ceremony, this piece of verbal slang is performed regularly and by all students at Dartmouth when referencing this geographical location.
  • Cultural Context: Here, the relevant cultural context is that the informant is a student at Dartmouth College. This piece of folklore is known to and used by all Dartmouth students and is a type of verbal slang. It is commonly used in extracurricular settings and when large gatherings take place outdoors at this location. BEMA typically has a positive connotation, as it refers to a location where friends or people with common interests may gather to meet.

Item: 

BEMA: An acronym short for “Big Empty Meeting Area”. BEMA refers to a specific geographical location at Dartmouth. It is a large field that is a common gathering area, and it is located just past the Fayerweather dorm cluster. For example, used in a sentence: “Our club meets at BEMA every week.”

Associated File: 

“One phrase I picked up freshman year was ‘BEMA’. It’s short for ‘Big Empty Meeting Area’, and is that large grass field by the [Fayerweather dorms]. I first learned this word during the candle ceremony my freshman year. I was with my friends, and we were confused where everyone was walking to, and someone told us that we were walking to BEMA, which I soon realized was just a large grassy field where people commonly meet – hence the acronym. All of Dartmouth uses this term, but being involved with a lot of the ‘outdoorsy’ clubs here, I probably use it more than others because my clubs will meet at BEMA a lot of the time. This slang came to be probably because people didn’t have a name for the place they were meeting at, and so they came up with ‘Big Empty Meeting Area’ and shortened it to ‘BEMA’ because it’s easier to say. Used in a phrase: ‘My friends and I are going to hammock at BEMA.'”

Informant’s Comments: 

When it’s not too cold out and the weather is nice, I’d really recommend going to BEMA, if even just to get a breath of fresh air. You can go see the Robert Frost statue too, if you haven’t seen it before.

Collector’s Comments: 

BEMA is a piece of Dartmouth verbal slang that most, if not all, Dartmouth students should know and at one point have used. Less commonly known, however, is the fact that it is an acronym short for “Big Empty Meeting Area”. Personally, I learned that while collecting this piece of slang and previously had not known why the location was called BEMA.

Collector’s Name: Nathan Zhang

Tags / Keywords: FA21, FA21-Grp-03, Dartmouth, Verbal Lore, Slang, Students, Dartmouth Clubs, Meeting Area

All I Want For Christmas Is You (Evan Fu)

General Information About Item:

  • Verbal Lore, Song
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Joseph Kramer
  • Date Collected: 10-22-2021

Informant Data:

  • Joseph (Joe) Kramer is a male Dartmouth student in the class of 2022. Joe and his family live in Westwood, New Jersey. Joe has a currently undeclared major at Dartmouth but plans to graduate with degrees in Economics and Psychology. He plays the tight-end role for Dartmouth’s NCAA Division I varsity football team and is involved in various finance student organizations around campus. He plans to play a fifth year of football and will graduate after Fall 2022.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was released in 1994 and became an immediate icon of American Christmas. Practically every year since its release, the song has climbed the charts of every United States music streaming platform to become the most played song during the holiday season.
  • Social Context: This account was mentioned when the interviewee was asked about their favorite Christmas traditions. Joe was extremely excited to talk about his experiences with Mariah Carey’s song and even began singing the song during our interview.

Item:

  • Joe’s favorite memory of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” stems from a party called GDXmas that his fraternity Gamma Delta Chi (GDX) organizes every fall. He recalls being on the dance floor within the GDX house’s basement – approximately 100 people, dressed in extravagant Christmas-themed clothing, had been dancing to various Christmas songs with mild enthusiasm. When Mariah Carey’s famous song played on the speakers, every person in the basement sang the lyrics with ardent vigor. It was a very emotional moment – when the song finished playing, people cheered and demanded a replay of the song. Joe recalls this experience as one of his fondest at Dartmouth.

Transcript:

  • “My favorite memory of that song was during the GDXmas party two years ago. There were like 100 of us in the basement, and everyone had ridiculous Christmas outfits on. “All I want for Christmas” came on, and literally every person in the basement began belching the lyrics. A bunch of us put our arms around each other, and some of the girls were crying to the song. It was insane and super emotional. When it ended, everyone was clapping, cheering, and screamed for an Encore, and the whole 3-minute experience relived itself. Definitely one of my favorite memories at Dartmouth.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “If I could hear it 100 times on Christmas, I would. You literally don’t need another Christmas song.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Personally, the song I associate the most with the Christmas holiday is certainly Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. I found Joe’s account of his experience with the song to be fascinating, and I could envision myself on that dance floor – the song is an American icon and truly invokes the joy-filled emotions of Christmas. The song itself is certainly folkloric – since its release, the song has been shared and transmitted in modern American culture. Most Americans heavily associate the song Christmas and revisit the track every year to bring about the celebratory emotions of the holiday.

Collected By:

Evan Fu, 21

Palo Alto, CA

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS013

Fall 2021