Field Notes 2.23.09

It was the end of a Friday practice. We were all tired, and there was a game the next day. As rookies we were both nervous and excited for the upcoming event. We didn’t know what to expect. As it turned out, we were in for more than we bargained for. The vets knew what was in store for us, and as such, they took it upon themselves to give us all a little tutorial, as is customary to do before the first social of the year. This was my first real encounter with the “rugby genre”. Although I had heard girls singing crude lyrics and telling stories of past socials in previous practices, this was the practice in which it all came together.
Rugby is well known to be a cruel sport. Some know it as football without pads. Some people just call it crazy. Perhaps because of the grueling physical demands of the game, or perhaps because of its British roots, it is common rugby tradition that following the 80 minutes of war that we call a game, two teams get together to eat, drink, and be merry. Drinking songs included.

That being as it is, the rookies had to be prepared to sing with the opposing team after the game the following day. Instead of passing around lyric sheets, we were given a line-by-line tutorial, complete with hand motions. We were told that the song we learned is the signature song of our team. It is the song that we sing at the beginning of every social; opposing teams have their own unique songs as well, and this one was “ours”. In the spirit of tradition, we rookies listened and learned, repeating each line of our song in call-and-response style, and finally singing the song as a rookie class when our lesson ended. Perhaps the most interesting detail of our little sing-a-long was that we are never allowed to write the lyrics; songs are learned through oral tradition only.

I remember specifically a social in which the other team asked us to e-mail one of our songs to them. Our girls politely declined, offering to run the lines with them one by one, but firm in the belief that these songs should be passed on only by word of mouth.

Another notable detail about social songs: they are never appropriate. They tend to contain little more content than quips about the game, drinking, and sex. Individual teams each have their own specific “canon” of songs, as well. Songs last as long as they are passed down through the years and the veteran players can remember them to teach them to the younger players. While socialling, a team might encounter a group that sings the same introductory song as them, though slightly altered.

One way that teams make songs their own is through verse writing. This can be done on the fly or ahead of time. Rugby songs generally can be personalized so that players’ characteristics, tendencies on the field (or in the bedroom), or rugby aspects can be inserted easily in to the song. Players who would like to sing their verse raise their cup the their forehead while the previous verse is being sung. Others acknowledge who is next to sing her verse by pointing at the forehead-touching girl with their elbows. At the next verse, that player will say her part. Much of the time this is done to mock or joke with a teammate.


Find more music like this on Social Rugby Network


Listen to "If I Were the Marrying Kind".
Each verse is a different rugby position along with a sexual innuendo. Note that pianos do not often accompany rugby socials.

Critical Review #4

Kristen Schilt's chapter about the Riot Grrrl scene outlines the emergence and subsequent controversies of the punk feminist movement. While originally united by the single message of feminism and accessibility in punk music, the Riot Grrrl scene later felt tension rise among those who wanted to address the issues of race and class in the scene, as well as those who wanted to merge the political message of Riot Grrrl with the music with which it was associated. Riot Grrrl associated bands tended to communicate via zines. This was one way that they both disseminated literature within the scene and kept the mainstream from interfering and causing bands to "sell out" (another of the controversies that plagued the scene). Although the movement publicly enjoyed popularity between 1992 and 1995, Schilt succinctly concludes by stating that "the dissolution of the scene was not a sign of death but rather evidence that women were continuing to find new ways to express their thoughts, emotions, and experiences" (127).

Why the preoccupation with keeping punk music "small"? Why is it that signing with a major label is seen as "selling out"?

Indian American Subculture

Critical Review #3
-Sunaina Maira


Maira's investigation of Indian subculture in the diaspora of New York city brings to light the duality of the lives of second-generation South Asian teens.


Music played by the Indian American subculture tends to combine elements of "hip-hop, rap, techno, and reggae with Hindi film music and bhangra" (31). Maira attributes some of this "remix" music to Indian youth's efforts to maintain their ethnic roots while at the same time integrating into American culture.


She focuses mainly on the way college students active in the bhangra scene perform varying degrees of their (Indian) identities in different contexts (the bhangra dance scene and elsewhere). Gender roles and the ideals of sexuality play a large part in this performance. Young women, for example, might wear more conservative, business-like attire while in the presence of their parents. While participating in the desi scene, however, they will wear club apparel tipical of the hip-hop scene (halters, hip-huggers, etc.).



In what other subcultures are these performances common? How do American gender ideals differ from those of the bhangra subsulture? In what ways are they the same?

Research Topic

I've decided to do my ethnography on the songs of rugby socials, the Rugby Social Scene, I suppose one might call it. Little did the general public know, the rugby community has a brand of music all it's own. Generally, following an 80 minute match of tackling one another, two teams will get together to eat, drink, and be merry. Mutual serenading included. Songs vary depending on the team, but the community has its old fall-back songs as well. Insert your player's names and sing!

I'm interested in the dissemination of the music, how teams decide what songs to sing, where do the lyrics come from, why are they so lewd, and the biggest question, why sing? And why ruggers? I think I'll be able to get some better questions once I start my initial fieldwork on the topic. For now, that's what I have.