Afterdance

The Afterdance is a tradition mostly specific to Lancaster in the sense that only Lancaster has a true dance after its dances. However, many sites have developed after-dance traditions.

Lancaster

The Afterdance takes place, oddly enough, after the dance. All the students wishing to partake in the Afterdance (a significant, if variable, number) proceed to stand in a circle in the area of the Quad in front of Thomas Hall. Once the group has fully arrived, prominent members of the CTY student community (generally Alcovians) begin to lead the songs. Even though it's hard to miss the Afterdance (you have to walk past it to get to your dorm), many people will shout 'Afterdance!' before it begins.

As of 2012, there is a final Session 1 Afterdance usually involving the Alcove and any stray students on the patio in front of the ASFC, during the conferences.

Both Sessions

The Circle Song

One person begins, "Hey everybody, make a circle!". Everyone else then calls back "What's a circle?"

If you're in College I, which is a humanities course, a circle is an "O." (Ohhh...)

If you're in College III, which is a math course, a circle is x² + y² = r², where r² is usually, but not always: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 42, etc!

If you're in College II, which is a science course, a circle is "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" or "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE."

• Explanation: while saying "eee," you must have one hand over your eyes and the other pointing as you spin around in a circle, thereby demonstrating the Doppler effect. Then you switch direction and hands on the next "eee."

(Why?) BECAUSE THEY'RE DIFFERENT!!

• Explanation: The angular momentum of the spinning person is, in fact, different depending on the direction.

(PROTIP: If you're the person leading the song, and feel really excited, run around the entire circle while leading it, thus further illustrating what a circle truly is)

The Hokey Pokey

You put your [insert appendage here] in,
You put your [appendage] out,
You put your [appendage] in and you shake it all about,
You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself about (or "around")

"Turn yourself about" clockwise while alternating poking your right and left pointer fingers in the air.

That's what it's all a-bout!

Clap each syllable (six total). Lift your right leg and clap under your knee for the "a-" in about, but clap normally for "-bout."

OINK OINK!

Pump your right fist in the air for each OINK.

• Appendages, in order: right hand, left hand, right foot, left foot, fob (for the last dance this becomes "lanyard", "no fob", or "not-fob" because students have already turned in their fobs), skull, whole self. Skull and fob are sometimes transposed. In 09.1, putting one's "Cthulhu" in and "FTAGN FTAGN FTAGN"-ing were added after the last line to much hilarity. This continued in following years, even though the original performer, Arthur Schechter, nomored out in 09. The practice itself was the brainchild of James Buckland. In 11.1, Alex Kohanski, the Blammo god for the session and leader of the Hokey Pokey, added putting one's spoon in at the end of the chant.

Cows are Freaky

First Session only (reintroduced by Maddie Stevens and Faye Elgart; originally dates back at least to 02.1 and potentially sometime around 99.1):
Cows are freaky when they look at you
And they're freaky when they look at me, too

So, if you see a cow and he looks you in the eye
You say Gosh! Gee! Wow! I'm a lucky guy

Cows are freaky when they look at you
And they're freaky when they look at me, too

So if you meet a cow that's high on crack
Don't be a cowboy and try to ride its back

'Cause cows are freaky when they look at you
And they're freaky when they look at me, too!

Eyelashes

Once I met a guy
[And] He didn't have any eyelashes
So I went and asked him why
[And] He said he didn't know
So I went and asked his mom
[And] She hadn't noticed anyway
So I went and asked his dad
[And] He said he didn't know
So I went and asked his neighbors
[And] His neighbors said to [pump fists] "GO AWAY!"
So I went and asked his dog
But he wasn't very helpful [optional shrug]
So I went and asked his friends
[And] His friends said, "Who the hell are you talking about?"
So I went and asked his teacher
She said (it's because) he had too many tonguesszzzzzzzz.

In Heaven There Is No Beer (The Beer Song)

Hey Phil! Is there any beer in heaven?

Originally, this song began with one person asking another person, "Hey ______! Is there any beer in heaven?" to which everyone would then reply, "Let's find out!" However, after LAN.05.2, forevermore Pickle suggested on LiveJournal that the name be changed to Phil, in honor of Phil Gunn, a student in 05.2 who died of heart problems shortly after session. Beginning in 06.2, the name was changed to Phil, and the audience reply was omitted. The song is sometimes referred to as "The Phil Song." This tribute is made during both sessions.

In Heaven, there is no beer!
NO BEER
That's why we drink it here!
RIGHT HERE!
And when we're gone from here!
FROM HERE!
Our friends will drink our beer!
OUR BEER!

Tra la la la la la!
LA LA! [clap on both]
Tra la la la la la!
LA LA! [clap on both]
Tra la la la la la!
LA LA! [clap on both]
Tra la la la la la!

(Leader: FASTER!)

The song is repeated a total of three times (after the second time, the leader says, "EVEN FASTER!" or "FASTER STILL!"; on one occasion in 2012 and for all of 13.1, it was done "OH MY GOD! EVEN MORE FASTER!"). Sometimes, the final "la" is held out.

CTY, You Have a Nice Butt (CTY Chant)

CTY, YOU HAVE A NICE BUTT!

CTY, WE LOVE YOU!

TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES, TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES,

CTY, WE LOVE YOU!

The chant is shouted at the top of your lungs while running jogging skipping back to your dorms. Do not stop until you have reached your dorm, your room if you're really hardcore, or your bed if you're über-hardxcore. When dances are in the ASFC and students trek slowly over a long distance to get back to their dorms, this chant can go on for a long time indeed, to the chagrin of staff members and throats.

During Session 1, the staff shouts "Go home, nobody loves you!" to the students. This does not occur immediately after the previous song. Rather, students start the chant while in the Afterdance circle, and a designated Stripper (a position during First Session) along with any who wish to accompany her (after the first full chant, which the Stipper does alone) strip in the middle of the circle. Before too much clothing is removed, the staff instigates the callback to send students home.

At Second Session, students immediately break the circle when the chant starts. The staff callback occurs only at the end of American Pie during Second Session (whereas at First Session, the callback ends every Afterdance).

An ongoing disagreement exists over the actual lyrics of the chant. While many recite the chant as given above, there is also a large group whose members say "CTY HAS A NICE BUTT" instead of "CTY, YOU HAVE A NICE BUTT" (all other lines are agreed upon). Both groups tend to insist that their version of the chant is rhythmically superior, whereas individuals who prefer the "you have" version will argue that the parallelism of their version, in which all four lines address "CTY" in the second person (rather than only the latter three), makes their version superior. The two Lancaster sessions also seem divided on this issue; Second Session seems to prefer the version given above, whereas First Session prefers the alternative.

However, as of 11.1 , this has been banned (due to an incident in 10.2 of actual removal of clothing), and a "CTY you have a nice brain" chant has been put in its place. A protest chant was announced at the Last Supper of 11.1, reading:

CTY HAS A NICE BRAIN!

CTY, WE LOVE YOU

THESE WORDS ARE IMPOSED

THESE WORDS ARE IMPOSED

CTY, WE LOVE YOU

Before then, the third and fourth lines had been changed to a variety of phrases, such as "Brenton's a bro" and "Jean-Jacques Rousseau."

11.2 chose to use:

CTY, MY ONE TRUE LOVE!

CTY, WE LOVE YOU

THESE WORDS ARE IMPOSED

THESE WORDS ARE IMPOSED

CTY, WE LOVE YOU

In 12.1, the chant for most of the dances was:

CTY HAS NICE QUADS!

CTY, WE LOVE YOU

THESE WORDS ARE IMPOSED

THESE WORDS ARE IMPOSED

CTY, WE LOVE YOU

However, for the first weekend, they used "Brenton's a bro" (a reference to Brenton Whiting) instead of "These words are imposed."

In 12.2, the chant was the same for all of the afterdances. It was changed to:

CTY, YOU HAVE A NICE BUTT!

CTY, WE LOVE YOU!

FOREVERMORE, FOREVERMORE,

CTY, WE LOVE YOU!

The chant was also no longer done while skipping back to the dorms. Instead, everyone would skip around in a big circle in the area where the Afterdance was, eventually dispersing and walking back silently. However, some people still chanted (and very tiredly skipped) back to the dorms anyway.

In 13.1, the "Has nice quads" chant remained up until the final dance, where it was changed in light of the banning of the Jester and Jack Flash (Ben Zweig and Glib Dolotov) from the last hour and a half of the dance due to a midnight laundry run.

CTY HAS NICE QUADS!

CTY, WE LOVE YOU

ADMIN IMPOSED

ADMIN IMPOSED

CTY, DO YOUR LAUNDRY!

In the final Afterdance, done the next day after closing ceremonies, Shea and Gabby (the former Strippers) brought back the original "Take off your clothes" chant, since the RAs seriously couldn't do nothing about it.

In 14.1, the Nice Quads chant was done once more up until the last dance: after the mysterious ISO check-up, there was a plan to do a variation of last year's "Admin Imposed" chant:

CTY HAS NICE QUADS

CTY WE LOVE YOU

ADMIN IMPOSED

ADMIN IMPOSED

CTY WHAT HAPPENED?

However, Radhika accidentally shouted "Do your laundry!" so that was the end of that.

Once again, the 14.1 final Afterdance the next morning brought back "Take off your clothes."

In 14.2, the original chant was also changed, first the "take off your clothes" line was changed at the first dance, and later the administration ordered "CTY has a nice butt" to be changed, because that is apparently "non-inclusive" and "caused some people to have real body issues". (from commenting on the condition of CTY's butt) The chant was as follows:

CTY, MY ONE TRUE LOVE!

CTY WE LOVE YOU

FOREVERMORE

FOREVERMORE

CTY WE LOVE YOU

During the final Afterdance, like 13.1, nobody exactly cared about these changes and everyone unanimously decided to sing the original chant.

Session 1

The order of Afterdance songs for Lancaster Session 1 usually goes:

• Circle Song
• In Heaven There Is No Beer
• Eyelashes / Cows (order varies)
• Tentacley Joy
• Hokey Pokey
• CTY, You Have a Nice Butt

That's Amore

This was a song added in 07.1 by the Runvenites because it was traditional for them to sing it after the the dances. It started after the second dance, when Zev Hurwich and Fred Westenberg (also known as Fred Jones, also known as Beadspreadfred) were sitting outside talking about relationships. Suddenly Zev noticed the full moon and burst out singing That's Amore by Dean Martin, and the entire hall joined him. The modified lyrics are as follows:

(To initiate the song someone screams out "Hey ______! What's Amore?")

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie,
That's Amore (repeated: That's Amore)
When the world seems to shine like you've had too much wine,
That's Amore (repeated: That's Amore)
Bells will ring-aling-aling, ting-a-ling-aling, ring-aling-aling and you'll say,
That's Amore (repeated: That's Amore)
When the stars make you drool like a pasta fazool,
That's Amore (repeated: That's Amore)

"That's Amore" was performed at the first Afterdance of 08.1 and was then discontinued.

Tentacley Joy

Another song added to the Afterdance 07.1 by Zev Hurwich, Tentacley Joy was invented by Stephen Rosen during a game of Silent Football, but was popularized by both students. It is unique in that it is the only Afterdance song that requires two people to lead (because eight tentacles are needed).

(Waving the right arm and leg) These are the right tentacles,
(Waving the left arm and leg) And these are the left tentacles.
(Waving the left arm and leg) These are not the right tentacles,
(Waving the right arm and leg) And these are not the left tentacles.

To recap:
(Waving the right arm and leg) These are the right tentacles,
(Waving the left arm and leg) And these are the left tentacles.
(Waving the left arm and leg) These are not the right tentacles,
(Waving the right arm and leg) And these are not the left tentacles.
(Jumping up and down waving all limbs) Tentacley joy!

Video of Zev and Steve demonstrating Tentacley Joy in the Alcove

Session 2

The order of Afterdance songs for Session 2 usually goes:

• Circle Song
• Hokey Pokey
• Cows
• Playground in My Mind
• C is for Cookie
• In Heaven There is No Beer
• Eyelashes
• CTY, You Have a Nice Butt

This order varies greatly from year to year, but the first and last songs always stay the same.

C is for Cookie

This song was added and led by Jeff Sachs after hearing it on Sarah Danly's iPod for the second Afterdance of LAN.06.2. The intro (as the Cookie Monster does it) was added in 08.2 by Eli P but was not continued in 09.

Now what starts with the letter "C?"
Cookie starts with "C."
Let's think of other things that start with "C."
Uh, who cares about other things?

"C" is for Cookie;
That's good enough for me.
"C" is for Cookie;
That's good enough for me.
"C" is for Cookie;
That's good enough for me.
(Ohh) Cookie, Cookie, Cookie starts with "C".

If you take a bite out of a cookie, it looks like a C.
And if you take a bite out of a doughnut, it also looks like a C.
But it is not as good.
And sometimes the MOON looks like a C,
But you can't eat that!

"C" is for Cookie;
That's good enough for me.
"C" is for Cookie;
That's good enough for me.
"C" is for Cookie;
That's good enough for me.
(Ohh) Cookie, Cookie, Cookie starts with "C".

This varies very slightly from the original Cookie Monster song.

Playground in My Mind (AKA Nickel)

On the last dance of 06.2, a round of the chorus to Clint Holmes' "Playground in My Mind" was led by Noelle. It did not continue in 07.2, but was revived in 08.2. The chorus goes as follows:

My name is Michael
I've got a nickel
I've got a nickel, shiny and new
I'm gonna buy me
All sorts of candy
Thats what I'm gonna do!

My girl is Cindy
When we get married
We're gonna have a baby or two.
We're gonna take them
To see their grandmas
That's what we're gonna do.

The Alphabet (by Nicholas Cage)

During week one of 12.2, there was a weekly called "Bad Acting Appreciation" in which students watched YouTube videos of the "best" acting of all time. A favorite was Nicholas Cage's performance of the alphabet from the movie Vampire's Kiss. This gained enough popularity to be a part of the afterdance. It goes like this:

It's all alphabetical:
A! B! C! D! E! F! G!
H! I! J! K! LMNOP!
Q! R! S!
T! U! V!
WXYZ!
HUH!?
That's all you have to do!

A lot of people at 13.1 wanted to continue this tradition, but it got shot down. Look, I get it's the second session's thing, but since when did only people with positions make these decisions?

The Nicolas Cage Alphabet scene was also shown during 14.2's Bad Acting Appreciation, during which people managed to memorize more of the scene. It became longer, and was performed like this:

It's all alphabetical!
You just PUT it IN the right FILE
According to alphabetical order! <br?> You, know, A! B! C! D! E! F! G!
H! I! J! K! LMNOP!
Q! R! S!
T! U! V!
WXYZ!
HAH!
Thats ALL you HAVE to DO!
I never misfiled anything!
Not even once!

The more knowledgeable would add on at the end:
HA! And you call yourself a psychiatrist.

Staff Variants

In at least the last few years, increasing numbers of instructional and residential staff members have attended the Afterdance. Staff who watch the Afterdance at Lancaster often have to improvise new lyrics to some of the songs in order to preserve their closely-guarded moral authority. For example, some instructional staff members sing this version of the Beer Song:

In Heaven, there is no milk!
That's why we just drink Silk^TM!
And when we are gone from... hilk?
Our friends will be drinking all our milk!

This alternative version started during Second Session of either 2004 or 2005. A new version of the third line might end up replacing the current version, but until then the staff members are focusing their efforts on thinking up a cleaned-up line 3 of the "Cows are Freaky" song.

Adam Roush and other staff have also yelled an alternative version of the "CTY, You Have a Nice Butt!" chant:

CTY YOU HAVE A NICE BRAIN! CTY WE RESPECT YOU! KEEP ON YOUR CLOTHES, KEEP ON YOUR CLOTHES, CTY WE RESPECT YOU!

So far, no student has been heard shouting this version. This modification of the chant was probably popularized by Adam, but was proposed and chanted by a group of teaching assistants after one of the dances in the ASFC, when the students ended up chanting for a very long time due to the long lines to get over the bridge back to campus (and, in the process, disturbed some elderly people leaving a nearby restaurant). Other variants of the third line, such as "write me a poem" or "take out your books, who cares about looks" have also been proposed.

Carlisle

Sing the Star-Spangled Banner while walking back from a dance. [CAR.05, CAR.06.1]

Also, the CTY Chant (see Lancaster) is somewhat common.

In 11.2, the CTY Chant regained a certain level of popularity, due to the efforts of double-sessioning traditionalists, who shouted it after every dance immediately following the RAs shouting "go home!" and ending the Passionfruit chant. The lyrics of the original Lancaster chant were maintained.

In 13.2, the CTY Chant was changed to: "CTY, You have a nice butt!

CTY, We love you!
Give us your souls! Give us your souls!
CTY, We love you!"

Saratoga Springs (Skidmore)

Session 1

"I'll Make a Man Out of You", from Mulan

Everyone links shoulders and stands in a circle or line to sing Mulan's "I'll Make a Man Out of You." The last DJ of the dance should put the song on. During the chorus all the nevermores say, "Be a Man." This is only done at the last dance of the session.

Let's get down to business - to defeat the Huns
Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?
You're the saddest bunch I've ever met
But you can bet before we're through
Mister, I'll make a man out of you

Tranquil as a forest
But on fire within
Once you find your center
You are sure to win
You're a spineless, pale pathetic lot
And you haven't got a clue
Somehow I'll make a man out of you

I'm never gonna catch my breath
Say goodbye to those who knew me
Boy, was I a fool in school for cutting gym
This guy's got 'em scared to death
Hope he doesn't see right through me
Now I really wish that I knew how to swim

Chorus: Be a man [nevermores only]
We must be swift as the coursing river
Be a man [nevermores only]
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a man [nevermores only]
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Time is racing toward us till the Huns arrive
Heed my every order and you might survive
You're unsuited for the rage of war
So pack up, go home you're through
How could I make a man out of you?

Chorus

Chorus

Session 2

In 2006, Lancastrians brought the CTY Chant to Skidmore, but it was not continued in 2007. Now, Nevermores stay in the gym after the dances for a while and in 13.2, received stars with their names written on them, as it went with the dance theme, Starry Night.

Los Angeles (LMU)

At the LMU site, when a dance ends, one of the RAs will go up on stage and scream out, "Go home! Nobody loves you! NOBODY!!!" This RA, as per tradition, is usually one of the celebrated Boring brothers, or the legendary Tom Ryan. In recent years, since 2007, Christian Ragosta (C-Bad), has taken over the role of screamer, while the campers still occupy the position of screamee(s). More recently, however, instead of only one RA doing the screaming on some sort of elevated platform, several will from wherever they happen to be at the time. Students who are aware of the tradition often also join in and reply "WE LOVE YOU!". Note that this screaming does not occur simultaneously. In 2009.2, some students who wrote on their hands/had good memories/had nothing better to devote their brainspace to also began chanting the phrase in Irish. However, not many people noticed this, since such a small amount of people were screaming it, and since the Irish translation is so long that onlookers tend to lose interest after a few seconds and dismiss the screamer as a lunatic. ("Tar abhuaile nil gra eg aon dinne dhuit"? er... spelled, probably incorrectly, from memory, so...euhm.)

The CTY Chant is also done by some Lancastrians, but is not a native tradition. During the last dance of 14.1, a large majority of Bria's hall performed the chant for a solid five minutes while exiting the gym until they were shushed by surrounding halls.

Loudonville (Siena)

After the dances at Siena, all who wish to participate gather and sing "Hallelujah", accompanied by one student on guitar. Although the location was once a lamppost in the middle of the academic quad, due to restrictions by the administration, it was moved to the terrace between Sarazen and Serra. The Afterdance was not a widespread tradition until it was popularized in 08.1 by the ever popular Greene twins. Although the Siena site has been closed, the tradition is set to continue at Skidmore/Saratoga Springs.

I heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth,
The minor fall, the major lift,
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof,
You saw her bathing on the roof,
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to her kitchen chair,
She broke your throne and she cut your hair,
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

Baby I've been here before,
I know this room; I've walked this floor,
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch,
And love is not a victory march,
It's a cold and its a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

There was a time you let me know
Whats really going on below,
But now you never show it to me, do you?
Remember when I moved in you;
The holy ghost was moving too,
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

Maybe there's a God above,
But all I ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
And its not a cry you can hear at night,
Its not somebody who's seen the light,
Its a cold and its a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu--jah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu---u---jah

Baltimore

In the past Baltimore has had no Afterdance. After the first dance of 09.2, the administration agreed to allow it to happen, but due to a large number of people being unfamiliar with the tradition, it was poorly attended and organized. At 10.2 The numbers of people who went to the Afterdance grew to a grass orgy-sized circle.

At 10.1 a few people shouted the CTY Chant (see Lancaster). This was done by site-hoppers and will probably not be continued.

At 10.2 The Goddess of BLAMMO/Empress of Passionfruit named Trinity organized an Afterdance after each dance where most of the traditional songs (Tentacles, Circles, Cows are Freaky, Eyelashes, and the Hokey Pokey) were sung/danced to. Also, Trinity took the place of an RA who would scream "GO HOME!! NOBODY LOVES YOU!" "WE LOVE YOU CTY" at the Afterdances. At the second and last Afterdances, Trinity managed to obtain the coveted megaphone (see JHU Lexicon)

The student-ran Traditions Committee established by Trinity and friends in 10.2 dedicates itself to preserving traditions at JHU. In doing so, one of its functions is teaching JHU-CTYers the lyrics and dances to the Afterdance, as well as general advertisement (shouting "COME TO THE AFTERDANCE!!", etc.) Those who join the Traditions Committee have in the past been dismissed from the dance first (as opposed to leaving one hall at a time) so that they may run to the Gentle Slope to prepare/initiate the Afterdance.

During 11.2 Karl organized the Afterdance. His first attempt for the Afterdance was in vain because no one knew what it was. The first real afterdance was after the second dance. There was a small gathering and many people left. The third afterdance was a huge success. Word has spread of the Afterdance and CTYers chanted

• The Hokey Pokey
• Cows
• Eye Lashes
• Tentacles

The Afterdance was concluded with Karl yelling Go Home nobody loves you.