Repetitive songs contain a large proportion of repeated words or phrases. Simple repetitive songs are common in many cultures as widely spread as the Caribbean, [1] Southern India [2] and Finland. [3] The best-known examples are probably children's songs. Other repetitive songs are found, for instance, in African-American culture from the days of slavery. [4]
The simplest songs repeat without end, and are typically work songs. The Guinness Book Of Records cites one washer song that has been sung for decades by people washing clothes, though presumably not all through the night.
Self referential songs refer to themselves like The Song That Doesn't End and may even recursively quote their own lyrics, for example "I Know a Song that will Get on Your Nerves" where each verse ends "and this is how it goes."
Cumulative songs build from one verse to another, like bricks on a pile, as in "Old McDonald Had a Farm".
'Counting songs' may count up or down, as with "99 Bottles of Beer". "One Man went to Mow" counts up overall, but down in each verse. Decrementing songs generally end before or around zero, for example "Three Craws" (Roud 4582). Incrementing songs are generally stop at the number in the title, though some only have traditional points, such as ten, for "One Man went to Mow". These songs are mathematically bounded once a choice of the maximum number is made.
Another type of song describes a circular phenomenon (see recursion). In "There's a Hole in My Bucket", the singer-narrator attempts to fix a leaky bucket, only to find out that ultimately one needs to have a functional bucket in order to effect the repair. In "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", flowers were offered to soldiers, who fell in a war, new flowers grew on their graves, those flowers were given to soldiers and so on.
In children's songs, repetition serves various educational purposes: repetition aids memory, [5] can aid in learning punctuation and reading skills, [6] and is very valuable in learning (foreign) languages. [7]
See also: Slave Songs of the United States .
Repetitive songs are also found in traditional work songs. Examples abound in African-American culture, [8] in political groups, [9] and among traveler, marchers, and walkers. [10]
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material culture, such as traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also encompasses customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, and the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas, weddings, folk dances, and initiation rites.
Poetry, also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, a prosaic ostensible meaning. A poem is a literary composition, written by a poet, using this principle.
Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels, if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a literary device. A common example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers," in which the "p" sound is repeated.
Carnatic music, known as Karnāṭaka saṃgīta or Karnāṭaka saṅgītam in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. It is one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Hindu texts and traditions, particularly the Samaveda. The other subgenre is Hindustani music, which emerged as a distinct form because of Persian or Islamic influences from Northern India. The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in gāyaki (singing) style.
In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal device to indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of alliterative verse are those found in the oldest literature of the Germanic languages, where scholars use the term 'alliterative poetry' rather broadly to indicate a tradition which not only shares alliteration as its primary ornament but also certain metrical characteristics. The Old English epic Beowulf, as well as most other Old English poetry, the Old High German Muspilli, the Old Saxon Heliand, the Old Norse Poetic Edda, and many Middle English poems such as Piers Plowman, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Layamon's Brut and the Alliterative Morte Arthur all use alliterative verse.
A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and conundra, which are questions relying for their effects on punning in either the question or the answer.
"99 Bottles of Beer" or "100 Bottles of Pop on the Wall" is a traditional reverse counting song in the United States and Canada. It is popular to sing on road trips, as it has a very repetitive format which is easy to memorize and can take a long time when sung in full. In particular, the song is often sung by children on long school bus trips, such as class field trips, or on Scout or Girl Guide outings.
A cumulative song is a song with a simple verse structure modified by progressive addition so that each verse is longer than the verse before. Cumulative songs are popular for group singing, in part because they require relatively little memorization of lyrics, and because remembering the previous verse to concatenate it to form the current verse can become a kind of game.
Jan Harold Brunvand is an American retired folklorist, researcher, writer, public speaker, and professor emeritus of English at the University of Utah.
Irish folklore refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance and mythology of Ireland. It is the study and appreciation of how people lived.
A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied in some cultures more than others, they appear to be universal in human society.
Murder ballads are a subgenre of the traditional ballad form dealing with a crime or a gruesome death. Their lyrics form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath. The term refers to the content, and may be applied to traditional ballads, part of oral culture.
"Andrew Lammie", also known as Mill o' Tifty or Mill o' Tifty's Annie, is a traditional Scottish ballad, set in Aberdeenshire, and catalogued as Child ballad 233. It tells the story of an ill-fated romance between Annie, the daughter of the miller at Tifty, and Andrew Lammie, the trumpeter for the lord of nearby Fyvie Castle. The romance is thwarted by Annie's ambitious family, who disapprove of the trumpeter's low rank. In most versions, the ballad ends with Annie's death at the hands of her brother.
Childlore is the folklore or folk culture of children and young people. It includes, for example, rhymes and games played in the school playground. The best known researchers of the field were Iona and Peter Opie.
Folk poetry is poetry that is part of a society's folklore, usually part of their oral tradition. When sung, folk poetry becomes a folk song.
"Good Old Mountain Dew", sometimes called simply "Mountain Dew" or "Real Old Mountain Dew", is an Appalachian folk song composed by Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Scotty Wiseman. There are two versions of the lyrics, a 1928 version written by Lunsford and a 1935 adaptation by Wiseman. Both versions of the song are about moonshine. The 1935 version has been widely covered and has entered into the folk tradition becoming a standard.
Invented traditions are cultural practices that are presented or perceived as traditional, arising from the people starting in the distant past, but which in fact are relatively recent and often even consciously invented by identifiable historical actors. The concept was highlighted in the 1983 book The Invention of Tradition, edited by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger. Hobsbawm's introduction argues that many "traditions" which "appear or claim to be old are often quite recent in origin and sometimes invented." This "invention" is distinguished from "starting" or "initiating" a tradition that does not then claim to be old. The phenomenon is particularly clear in the modern development of the nation and of nationalism, creating a national identity promoting national unity, and legitimising certain institutions or cultural practices.
"On Springfield Mountain" or "Springfield Mountain" is an American ballad which recounts the tragic death of a young man who is bitten by a rattlesnake while mowing a field. Historically, the song refers to the death of Timothy Merrick, who was recorded to have died on August 7, 1761, in Wilbraham, Massachusetts by snakebite. It is commonly included in collections of American folksong, and is one of the earliest known American ballads.
Poetic devices are a form of literary device used in poetry. Poems are created out of poetic devices via a composite of: structural, grammatical, rhythmic, metrical, verbal, and visual elements. They are essential tools that a poet uses to create rhythm, enhance a poem's meaning, or intensify a mood or feeling.
repetitive songs.