ANALYZED SONGS

ADOLETA

This playground game can be found in different areas of brazil and is usually played in a circle. Even though only the first few words have no specific meaning (Adoleta, Lepetipetipeta), the other words in the song that would have meaning are simply combined together to make up the game, but no real meaning is taken from the text.

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Portuguese text:

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Adoleta, Lepeti peti peta

Nescafé com Chocola

Adoleta

Puxa o rabo do Tatu

Quem saiu foi tu

Puxa o rabo da panela

Quem saiu foi ela.

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Pronunciation:

Ah-do-leh-tah

Leh peh tch pe tcp co-lah

Nes-cafeh cohm cho-co-lah

Ah-do-leh-tah

Poo-sha oh ha-bo do tah-too, K-en sa-e-uh foh-e tuh

Poo-sha oh ha-bo dah pa-neh-lah

K-en saiu foh-e ehla

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History and Background of the Game:

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It is believed that this game was originally brought to Brazil from France and its non-sense words came from french words that the Brazilian people couldn't pronounce. Adoleta suposedly comes from the French word "Andouillette" that means meatballs and the game was originally played in French.

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Source: http://aimer-la-france.blogspot.com/2013/05/adoleta.html

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To learn how to play the game, please see the following video:

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 https://youtu.be/vaAGlzHwkik

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In this other videos you can see children playing a different version of the game where instead of "puxa o rabo da panel" they add the vowels as the ending (a-e-i-o-u):

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLoLKlsS32Y

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 In this other version, adults exemplify how to play the game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42eueTcTsWM

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Type of song: Rhyme

Type of Game: Clapping game

Metre: 4/4

Phrases: 8

Prominent Rhythmic Elements:

Ta titi

Pedagogical use: experience beat, experience fast and slow, make conscious titi.

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ESCRAVOS DE JO

Folk Songs and Popular Traditions

            Although Brazilian music is diverse in influences and musical genres from region to region, certain songs from the folk repertoire are well known in the entire country. Escravos de Jó (Slaves of Job) is one of those songs. It is usually not performed, but played as a stone passing game. Its origins are unknown, but the lyrics and type of game suggest that it has African origins.

Musical Analysis

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Meter: 2/4

Vocal Range: E – C8 

Form: A (4 bars) B (5 bars) C (4 bars) C (4 bars)

Pedagogical uses: internalize beat.

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Lyrics and Translation 

Escravos de Jó                                              Slaves of Job

Jogavam Caxangá                                            Were throwing caxangá

Tira, Bota Deixa Ficar                                     Take it, leave it, let it stay

Guerreiros com gerreiros fazem                      Warriors with warriors go 

Zigue Zigue Zá                                                Zig, Zig-Zag

Guerreiros com gerreiros fazem                      Warriors with warriors go 

Zigue Zigue Zá                                                Zig, Zig-Zag    

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The word caxangáhas multiple meanings and could refer both to a type crab, a type of hat, or a neighborhood in the city of Recife. It is believed to have been at some point the name of the game that accompanies this song.  

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History and Background of the Game

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            Someone unfamiliar with the song might think this game is condoning slavery, but it is believed by many to be, in fact, criticizing it. Slaves supposedly created the game back in the 1800 when they were unwillingly brought into Brazil to work in the plantations and were forcefully Christianized. The song has been transformed over time and its true meaning seem to be lost in history. However, there are those who believe that the slaves used the name Job to refer to the slave owners (as Job, from the Old Testament, was someone important) and that caxangáis actually a variation of the caá-çangánative Tupi Guaranidialect word that means “extensive woods”  (Portapila, 2015) or “prayers meeting” (Super Interessante, 2016). 

If that is the case, the song might refer to the slaves that tried to escape their owners by running into the woods where they had to zigzag in order not to be caught. Other versions of the story consider that the caxangá in the song refers to the crab and that the slaves were forced to hunt those crabs and played with them while doing it. Either way, the African traditions of the game are clear as it is similar to very well-known African stone passing games such as Obwisana, from Ghana.

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Practices and Traditions

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            Children and teenagers usually play this game sited on the ground in a circle and adults play it around a table. Each participant needs to have an object that will be passed to the other participants. In a music setting, children sometimes pass egg shakers and claves, but anything can be used from a rock to a shoe. The participants tap the object in front of themselves and than pass it to the person beside them accentuating the first beat of each bar and following the instructions in the lyrics of the song. On “Take it, leave it, let it stay” the object is taken out of the floor (or table), than placed back in the floor (“leave it”). On “let it stay”, participants look at their object without touching it. On “Warriors with worriors” they go back to passing their object the same way as before (accentuating the fist beat). On “Zig, Zig-Zag” the participants tap object once in the same direction that is was already going, once in the opposite direction and than back to the original direction. An example can be seen in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u5sM6dgu5Y

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Teaching Tips: The game is challenging for those that have never played it so starting slowly when modeling might be very important here. Since the language is unfamiliar, singing in English might help as the lyrics instruct the players on what to do. Even though there is a published English version of this song, the version is not recommended here for not being representative of the culture it came from.

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Sources:

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Escola de Recreadores (2015, August 27). Curso de recreação – brincadeira escravos de

Jó. Retireved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u5sM6dgu5Y

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N/A (2016) Jó não tinha escravos e ninguém joga canxangá. In Super Interessante. 

Retrieved from: https://super.abril.com.br/historia/jo-nao-tinha-escravos-e-

ninguem-joga-caxanga/

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Portapila, D. (2015). Origem escravos de Jó. Retrieved from: 

https://culturacorporal.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/escravos-de-jo/