Collection 2:
Overall Description:
In this collection, Wayne Morden discusses how he put together college fraternity and sorority songs that could be considered to be “folk songs of a nature.” Morden talks about how these songs are passed down orally, by word of mouth from year to year, especially in his fraternity, “Pi Kappa Alpha.” Morden furthermore tells the reader how he was able to convince the women of the Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority to sing sixteen of the Greek lore songs and record their melodies. Some of these songs consisted of serious nature (vows), rush songs, fun songs, and sadly, parting songs.
Overall Context:
This material was deposited in the Folklore Archives at Indiana University in May 24, 1967. Explanation of these Greek lore songs was provided by Wayne T. Morden. The context for this collection includes songs of Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority as well as songs from Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Text 4
Title of Collection: “A Folklore Collection for F201 (Mrs. Degh)”
Collector’s name: Wayne T. Morden
Date Collected: May 24, 1967
Parody Song by Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority
Oh there are Chi Omegas at I.U.
Yes, there are Chi Omegas at I.U.
What the Pi Phis do for pay
The Chi Os do for play
Yes, there are Chi Omegas at I.U.
There are no Chi Omegas at Purdue
No there are no Chi Omegas at Purdue
So the Beta Theta Pis
Have to sleep with Sigma Chis
For there are no Chi Omegas at Purdue
Context:
This is a parody song that was sung at fraternities at Indiana University by the sorority members of Zeta Alpha Sorority as a joke in the 60s. Those that sing it acknowledge the fact that there are Chi Omegas at Purdue University.
Overall Description:
On Friday afternoon, March 28th, 2008, I researched the folklore of Greek Lore. I was able to go through the University Archives, located on the fourth floor of the Wells Library to study the folklore of the fraternities and sororities at IU. During my findings, I stumbled across “A Collection of Sorority Songs,” which consisted of graces, toasts, hymns, serious songs, and most importantly “rush” songs. Most of these songs were parody songs, normally referred to as a joke made interesting to both the audience and the performers mainly because they were applied to inappropriate and also vulgar topics. More importantly, these songs represented strength, dedication, and unity among sorority girls.
The first line of “Sorority Songs” caught my attention because the author mentioned that “the collection of sorority songs from IU should help negate the theory that folklore is dead or dying.” This is very important because the author was able to make the connection with the reader that folklore is very important for cultural and traditional purposes, and that it should not be ignored or simply forgotten about. She mentions how the youth of America are actively singing folksongs, but are not taking into account that folksongs came from the past and that in order to help understand where we come from, we must understand our past. She also emphasizes that in the Greek society, campus song tradition continually grows year after year because the fraternities and sororities are the most important social and stable entity on campus.