Here’s a few more Playground melodies from the handball game “Suicide”, or “Butts Up”.
When a ball lands out of bounds, the player who fetches it can sing a “Relay” to beseech her fellow players to cut off her throw to the wall. A “Challenge” is sung by the other players to deny her “Relay” request. Both figures cover the interval of a Minor Third from G to E.
The dis below can be used in just about any schoolyard game or life situation.
“Farted On” is also a Minor Third. It’s a little more mature version of “Nana Nana Poo Poo” although the melody is practically the same, and both have a swung rhythm. “Farted On” is usually preceded by a falling “Ohhhhhhhhh!”. You don’t wanna be on the receiving end of one of those.
“Into” is short for interference. An “Into” is sung when a ball hits an object out of play. It is identical in melody and rhythm to a “Not It”, at a slower tempo.
In the previous post, I wrote that these playground melodies were in C Major Pentatonic, because they originate from “Ring around the Rosie”, a Major folk song. But now I’m thinking that out there on the blacktop, these figures take on a new tonality – the very closely related E Minor Pentatonic. The E acts as a resolution in all of these melodies.
Know who else likes E Pentatonic?
Jimi Fuckin’ Hendrix!
Try jammin’ along with some Nanapoops, Not It’s, Into’s, and Farted On’s.
