Halloween songs, film, culture, history and other music holidays we celebrate

BOO!

Halloween Songs, Halloween History, Halloween Safety, Ghost, Goblin Monster Scary Spooky Sounds, Pumpkin Facts, Celtic History, Werewolf Protection and Dracula, Ghosts and Music Holidays

FUN HALLOWEEN SONGS

It's just so horribly, yuckily, disgustingly wonderful. The Tune for The Worms Crawl In the Worms Crawl Out is based on "Marche Fun`ebre d'une Marionette" by Charles Gounod (1818-93) http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/ballads/San444.html
There was an old nursery rhyme called There Was a Lady All Skin and Bone that was printed in 1810. It also contains the line "The worms crawl'd out, the worms crawl'd in." And another nursery rhyme, which can be found in Gammer Gurton's Garland's 1810 edition, that has a similar line.

There Was a Lady All Skin and Bone
There was a lady all skin and bone,
Sure such a lady was never known:
It happened upon a certain day,
This lady went to church to pray.

When she came to the church stile,
There she did rest a little while;
When she came to the church yard,
There the bells so loud she heard.

When she came to the church door,
She stopped to rest a little more;
When she came to the church within,
The parson prayed 'gainst pride and sin.

On looking up, on looking down,
She saw a dead man on the ground;
And from his nose unto his chin,
The worms crawled out, the worms crawled in.*

Then she unto the parson said,
Shall I be so when I am dead?
O yes! O yes! the parson said,
You will be so when you are dead

The Hearse Song
Don't you ever laugh as a hearse goes by,
for you may be the next to die.
They wrap you up in a big white sheet,
And cover you up from your head down to your feet.
They put you in a big black box,
And cover you up with dirt and rocks.
All goes well for about a week,
And then your coffin begins to leak.
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play pinochle* on your snout.
They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,
They eat the jelly between your toes.
A big green worm with rolling eyes,
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes.
Your stomach turns a slimy green,
And pus pours out like whipping cream.
You spread it out on a slice of bread,
And that's what you eat when you are dead

From: Marie Boyett
As I like to do this around Halloween I have the following verse for students to follow the rhythmic pattern (not sure of the source):

There are basically just three rhythms:

A:
Pumpkins glow on Halloween Halloween Halloween
ti - ti ti - ti ti- ti ta ti- ti ta ti- ti ta

B:
Pumpkins glow on Halloween the night of Halloween
ti - ti ti - ti ti - ti ti - ti ti - ti ti- ti ta rest

C:
Pumpkins glow on Halloween Halloween night
ti - ti ti - ti ti - ti ta ti - ti ta to-oo

ABABAC etc.

Students try to determine the order of the rhythmic patterns which of course by the end is next to impossible. Discussion ensues about how the composer has made the piece interesting despite only using 3 different rhythms.

From: Becky Ventura

Pass on the beat
--use a beanbag--
Get and use a hand drum to reinforce beat.
Add poem:

Pumpkin patch,
Pumpkin patch,
Lookin' for a pumpkin in a pumpkin patch
Here is one, round & fat, turn into a jack-o-lantern just like that!

Whoever has the bag on "that" gets to draw eyes, ears or nose (and you can go on) on a big pumpkin that you drew on the board.

From: Cheryl Bradham, K-5 Specialist

The song is in d minor and I have indicated eighth rests with a "7"and B-flat as "B*"

(Sing first verse only:)
1. We have a magic broom
To streak across the sky
And travel in the darkest night
A-laughing as we fly.

2. I hug my old black cat
We fly up to the moon So fat--we go the speed of light Upon the magic broom.
Boom Pipes play a steady beat A D A D while singing the verse,(beginning with a four-beat introduction) until the last measure,when they play "D-A D" on ti-ti- ta.

After this final "D-A D" at the conclusion of the melody, the triangle plays four steady beats to herald the arrival of the " scary tune" which lasts for a total of eight beats and is played on all other Orff instruments.

Take out all the C and G bars and replace the B-naturals with B-flat bars, so that the instruments are set up with only the bars D E F - A B-flat. Use as many octaves as are available on each instrument.

The children may play any combination of notes they wish, but they MUST play these notes on:
ti-ti, ti-ti, ti-ti, ti-ti
ti-ti, ti-ti, ti-ti, ta.

We practice this first by playing our "invisible" bars in the air in front of us while we count:
"1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8."

Also, on the final note of the "scary tune" which the children play on Orff instruments, I observe a fermata before resuming the 4-beat introduction on the Bass Bars which leads into the repeat of the A-section song. This gives us a chance to enjoy those delightful eerie overtones before we resume the song.

After the conclusion of the "scary tune," we again have a four beat introduction using D & A on the bass bars, and we again sing the song, giving our activity an ABA form.

When we sing this version, I have the children hold their mallets above their heads like they have "antennae" while they are singing the song (a spook from outer space, perhaps?). They think this is GREAT fun and I love it because it keeps them from trying to play the "scary tune" too early while they are singing the A section song!

The boom pipes keep everyone together. Add color with untuned percussion in the rests at the ends of the phrases - flexitone, vibra-slap, cabasa, whip, guiro, slide whistle, ratchet, and a couple of bony-sounding rattles.

Intro: Boom pipes 8 beats: ADAD then continue through to the end of the verse ending in DAD.
Sing: Small percussion ** ends of phrases
Triangle XXXX
Instruments: 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8

From: Amanda Bragg

Miss White had a fright,
in the middle of the night.
Saw a ghost, eating toast,
halfway up the lamp-post.

Teach poem. Stress beat and rhythm. On AM, have students play a half-beat on c-g. On AX or SX, have xstudents play the rhythm on any notes.

There, you have improvisation. Ask the students stitting and waiting to listen to the xylo to see if it is speaking the poem with the rhythm. I also have a worksheet where they can write in the rhythm.

A Carcass - Baudelaire's Symbolist Poetry
Professor Gregory Hansen was teaching Baudelaire, and suggests there's some resonance between the children's rhyme and his symbolist poetry. Here's Charles Baudelaire's approach to a similar topic.

A Carcass

My love, do you recall the object which we saw,
That fair, sweet, summer morn!
At a turn in the path a foul carcass
On a gravel strewn bed,
Its legs raised in the air, like a lustful woman,
Burning and dripping with poisons,
Displayed in a shameless, nonchalant way
Its belly, swollen with gases.
The sun shone down upon that putrescence,
As if to roast it to a turn,
And to give back a hundredfold to great Nature
The elements she had combined;
And the sky was watching that superb cadaver
Blossom like a flower.
So frightful was the stench that you believed
You'd faint away upon the grass.
The blow-flies were buzzing round that putrid belly,
From which came forth black battalions
Of maggots, which oozed out like a heavy liquid
All along those living tatters.
All this was descending and rising like a wave,
Or poured out with a crackling sound;
One would have said the body, swollen with a vague breath,
Lived by multiplication.
And this world gave forth singular music,
Like running water or the wind,
Or the grain that winnowers with a rhythmic motion
Shake in their winnowing baskets.
The forms disappeared and were no more than a dream,
A sketch that slowly falls
Upon the forgotten canvas, that the artist
Completes from memory alone.
Crouched behind the boulders, an anxious dog
Watched us with angry eye,
Waiting for the moment to take back from the carcass
The morsel he had left.
- And yet you will be like this corruption,
Like this horrible infection,
Star of my eyes, sunlight of my being,
You, my angel and my passion!
Yes! thus will you be, queen of the Graces,
After the last sacraments,
When you go beneath grass and luxuriant flowers,
To molder among the bones of the dead.
Then, O my beauty! say to the worms who will
Devour you with kisses,
That I have kept the form and the divine essence
Of my decomposed love!

HALLOWEEN FACTS

Halloween History

"All Hallows Eve became Hallow Evening, which became Hallowe'en--an ancient Celtic, pre-Christian New Year's Day in contemporary dress. Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved.
In Philadelphia on New Years Day we have the MUMMERS PARADE.

Celtic Tradition St. Brigit

Learn About St. Brigit and her Halloween tradition that turned into Candelmass
The Ancient Celtic day of the dead that turns into Halloween, virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead.
Teach More History with Song
Occult 1913 Irish Witchcraft And Demonology pdf

U.S. Census Bureau Facts for Halloween: Oct. 31 Contains facts and statistics regarding trick-or-treaters, pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns, candy, and costumes. Includes relevant place names in the United States, such as Transylvania County, North Carolina, and Tombstone, Arizona.

FACTS ABOUT PUMPKINS

Halloween Safety
Halloween is a cherished tradition but the excitement of the night can cause children to forget to be careful. There is no real "trick" to making Halloween a real treat for the entire family. The major dangers are not from witches or spirits but rather from falls and pedestrian/car crashes. Both children and adults need to think about safety on this annual day of make-believe.Common-sense tips and reminders for motorists, parents, candy eaters, and costume makers.

Werewolf Protection

A werewolf in folklore and mythology is a person who shapeshifts into a wolf, either purposely, by using magic, or after being placed under a spell.
Lon Chaney turns into a Warewolf that shows the conflict between the Chruch and. Gypsie Burial Traditions. The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney 1941
“Even a man who is pure at heart,
and says his prayers by night,
may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright.” - Gypsy Woman (Maria Ouspenskaya) Wolfbane Poem recited in The Wolf Man
Picture - Wolfbane is a blue flowering perennial of Europe that ancient Roman physician Dioscorides referred to as lycotonum.
You can only kill a warewolf with wolfbane, a silver bullet, silver knife, or stick with a silver handle. Werewolves are sometimes held to become vampires after death. [2]
Highly toxic juice of the wolfbane plant, now known as monkshood, Aconitum napellus, could indeed kill wolves. Arrows tipped with it or baits laced with this plant would poison the predators that once prowled Europe. Naturally it was thought Acontium would destroy the curse of a wolfman as well.
The English language herbals, are compendiums of accumulated plant lore and botanical cures invaluable when plants held the only medicines available. Originally written by hand, became far more common knowledge after 15th century. The two primary authors are Gerard and Culpepper, whose original herbals are still in print today.
Lycanthropy has been recently proven to be a bonafide genetic anomaly which causes excess hair growth over the entire body. This gives the unfortunate person a furry animal-like appearance.
Pedro Gonzalez, a 10-year-old boy was born on the Canary Island of Tenerife and had been given to Henry II 1547 as a gift by French corsairs. The boy's entire face -- his forehead, cheeks, nose and ears -- was covered in about four inches of dark-blonde fur, revealing only his eyes and lips. [1] But until a century ago, those suffering lycanthropy or thought to be a werewolf were hunted down and killed.
Real - Life werewolf looking people and their families.

DRACULA

A partial from the film Dracula (1931) with Bela Lugosi

The Alphabet Video - Dark Humor good for middle school age children

When Does Daylight Time Begin and End?

As of 2005 daylight time begins "on the first Sunday in April and ends on the last Sunday in October. ... These dates were recently modified with the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. ...
Starting in March 2007, daylight time will begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November." Includes a brief history of daylight saving time in the U.S. U.S. Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications Department.

OTHER MUSIC HOLIDAYS

GHOST

WARNING:
the stampede began when some children shouted "Ghosts are coming!" on the darkened staircase."
China school crush kills children At least seven children have died and 37 injured in a stampede at a primary school in south-western China. The incident occurred as the children were streaming down a staircase after Tuesday's evening classes in the Sichuan province, state media said. Five of the injured were taken to hospital in critical condition. Officials have launched an inquiry into the deaths in Tongjiang county, but have already ruled out any structural problems with the staircase.

Halloween Hangman Game