Canon

From RealCTY
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Realcty logo 20060831.png
 Listen to all your favorite canon songs here: CTY Canon Listen

The Canon is a list of songs that are traditional and played at each dance (or every other dance). The list varies by site.

Sites not listed below may or may not have well-defined Canons. If you know yours, please add it! "American Pie," however is played last at every CTY dance at every site. The only exception involves a new tradition at Skidmore Session One in which "I'll Make a Man out of You" is played after American Pie at the last dance. Also, some newly established sites, particularly those outside of the United States, tend to fail to play the Canon.

[Note that the Canon is extremely similar to that of the dances at TIP (Duke University's gifted summer program), especially the fact that the every dance ends with American Pie[1], and disputes occur over which camp had the songs first as they both began in the same summer]

Lancaster

Lobster.JPG

At Lancaster, the Canon is divided into two sections: the "Upper Canon" or "High Holy Canon," which is played at every dance, and the "Lower Canon," half of which is played at each dance, although the Lower Canon is generally not played at the final dance, but is instead played during lunch and dinner, usually a 5/4 split the day of the final dance. Since Lancaster holds dances every Friday and Saturday, as well as the final Thursday (known canonically as Friday, since Dances can't happen on Thursdays), this means that each Lower Canon song is heard once each weekend.

The playing of the Lower Canon at lunch began in 2004 at the suggestion of RA Jeremy Orosz, who thought this system would allow for a night dance that was not comprised completely of Canon so that less traditional students would have a wider selection of music. In 2006, half the Canon songs were moved to dinner because, due to the staggered lunch schedule, no student would be able to hear all Canon songs just at lunch.

The Upper Canon songs are generally played (nonconsecutively) in the reverse of the order shown here (i.e. "Bizarre Love Triangle" is first). The last four songs of the dance are (in order): "Stairway to Heaven," "Mr. Brightside," "Forever Young," and "American Pie."

Upper Canon

Lower Canon

History of the Canon

Supposedly, the modern Canon began the first year CTY started (at St. Mary's in 1980/1981, theoretically; however, this may actually mean the first year of Lancaster, 1982), when the staff, who enjoyed American Pie, decided to play it at a dance. The students enjoyed it and transferred it to the following session, after which it was played in the following years as well.

There was a clear Canon at least as early as 1985 (note that Lancaster was opened in 1982), which included "Rock Lobster," "The Time Warp," "Shout" (Isley Brothers), "Louie Louie," "Good Lovin'" (Rascals), and -- of course -- "American Pie." By 1988, students expected others certain songs at every dance, too (i.e., "No One is to Blame," "Mony Mony" (Billy Idol), "Boys Don't Cry," "Forever Young," "Summer of '69," "Twist & Shout," "Bizarre Love Triangle"). Though the name of "Canon" had not yet been applied, by the mid-1980's these songs were already being played at virtually every dance.

In 1987 and 1988, a group of RAs mocked these songs, especially "American Pie." Their behavior reached its nadir when, in 88.2, they convinced the RA DJs not to play "American Pie" at all at one of the later dances. Scores of students refused to leave the dance area -- the end of quad in front of the Marshall-Buchanan porch. A student housed in Dubbs turned his stereo speakers to point out his room's windows and played the song as loud as he could. As the students heard this, they moved under his window and sang loud enough to make up for the size of his speakers. In 93.1, the RA DJs again screwed things up by omitting some important songs at a dance on the first weekend. The following Monday, students circulated a petition demanding that the DJs play "Bizarre Love Triangle," "Rock Lobster," "It's the End of the World as We Know It," "Forever Young," and "American Pie" at every remaining dance, without fail. The word "Canon" was still not applied to this list.

Between 1994 and 1995, the Digiclan and LLRT, after lengthy online discussions, finalized the Canon, cutting it down from a list of over 50 songs. By 1996, all of the fourteen modern Canon songs except for "Tunak Tunak Tun" and "Dr. Mario" had appeared.

Every few years, there is a vote at Lancaster to put more songs on the Canon. Recent votes (in 2000 and 2003) did not add any new songs, though the High/Low status of some songs slightly changed. A vote 05.2 decided to keep "James Brown Is Dead" as part of the canon and add Daler Mehndi's "Tunak Tunak Tun" to the Canon one year after kids from First Dietz hall made a CTY-Lancaster-specific dance (modeled after Daler Mehndi's music video).

In 08.1, "Rock Lobster" was voted out of the First Session Canon. The next night, "Dr. Mario" was voted into the Lower Canon by a 53% percent majority (the vote to include "Dr. Mario" only would have been conducted had "Rock Lobster" been removed first). "Dr. Mario" remained Lower Canon on a one-year trial basis due to the slim majority. At the last dance of 08.1, "Rock Lobster" was played one final time as part of the Canon (but it was played during 09.1). At the end of 09.1, "Dr. Mario" was voted and secured into Canon to be enjoyed by generations of CTYers to come. As for Session 2, "Rock Lobster" remains a part of the Canon while "Dr. Mario" is not considered to be.

Protest Example (05.1)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/ctylan20051/3f03c748.jpg

Other Songs

Raving is very popular at Lancaster. Aside from "James Brown Is Dead," at least one techno/raving song is played at each dance, often Darude's "Sandstorm" or "Every Time We Touch." During 06.2, a new rule was instated at Lancaster that banned stringraving (and also lying on the ground after dark). This angered some students, especially since nobody was officially told that the PDA rule on hand-holding from the previous session had been lifted. Protests were planned; however, Rachel, then-Jesus, and Alexa, a onemore, worked with the site director to lift the ban. The string raving ban was changed to a restriction: that all raving be done on the hardtop. However, by the following year, the restriction had been lifted or ignored by administration. Also, the song "You Make My Dreams" by Hall & Oates is played at all dances (at least in session 1) immediately before the rave song.

Aside from the Canon, commonly played songs/dances include the CTY Shuffle (AKA Ice Cream), the Numa Numa Song ("Dragosta Din Tei"), "Cotton-Eyed Joe," the "Cha-Cha Slide," the Pokemon Theme Song, "Sexyback" (usually directly following BLT and accompanied by an [optionally] pantsless macarena line), "I'll Make a Man Out of You", and "Sandstorm."

The song "Mr. Brightside" by the Killers has, since 07.1, almost always been played between "Stairway to Heaven" and "Forever Young", especially in 07.1. Mr. Brightside typically involves a giant mob dancing up and down in the center, with the present Jack Flash holding a light (usually a podpoi) over the sea of reaching hands.

Not completely related to Canon, but also very important, is the song "The End of the Tour" which is always the last song played at the Electric Tree after the Passionfruit.

Also, "Iris"!

During second session 2010, the theme song for the video game "Robot Unicorn Attack" (Always by Erasure) was played at the last three dances, following an activity of the same name. During the song, students gallop in a circle with their index fingers to their foreheads to represent unicorn horns. This carried on into both sessions of 2011. Some students playfully acted like stars from the game, which the unicorns have to dash through. That part of the song has fallen out of practice.

As a result of a student-led effort in 10.2, Caramelldansen was played on the 3rd and last dances. During this song, students replicated the dance from the video itself. This was also repeated at these same two dances in 11.2.

In 2011, administration banned students from performing "Sweet Transvestite". Session One students switched to "Over at the Frankenstein Place" before making a final change to "Hot Patootie". Session Two performs "Science Fiction/Double Feature".

In 13.1, the song ['Finale'][2] by Madeon was played at the last dance due to the lyrics "Your last chance, your last summer, your last dance, beat to your own drummer...brace yourself for the grand finale". This tradition has been continued at every Thursday dance as of 15.1.

Carlisle

The Canon at Carlisle is over Three hours long, and therefore is never played in its entirety. The songs are arranged in order of holiness.

The full list is too long to place here. See Canon/CAR.

Saratoga Springs (Skidmore)

Saratoga Springs has 4 dances per session, one on each of the first two Fridays, a short 45 minute - 1 hour dance on last Wednesday, then of course one on the last Thursday. High holy and upper canon are played at every dance, while lower canon is played at least once a session. Some lower canon is reserved for the final dance on the final Thursday only (i.e. Let It Be, Come on Eileen, with the majority having a special dance going along with it or being slowdance songs), so they could be considered special in their own way.

This list was primarily compiled by Jon Good ('97–'00), a cult figure among Skidmore CTY students. For 2011.2, Canon was updated and reshuffled with general agreement to be made into CDs

High Holy Canon

Upper Canon

  • Tunak Tunak Tun - Daler Mendhi
  • Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants
  • Sandstorm - Darude
  • Ravers Fantasy - Manian (Session 2 Lower)
  • It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - R.E.M.
  • Blister in the Sun - The Violent Femmes
  • Time Warp - Rocky Horror Picture Show
  • Smells like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
  • Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
  • Tong Hua - Guang Liang (Session 1)
  • Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
  • Dragostea Din Tei - Ozone
  • Bulletproof - La Roux
  • Poker Face - Lady Gaga (Session 2)
  • Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Lower Canon

  • My Sharona - The Knack
  • Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
  • Everytime we Touch - Cascada
  • Build Me Up, Buttercup - The Foundations
  • Buddy Holly - Weezer
  • American Music - The Violent Femmes
  • Let it Be - The Beatles
  • Come on Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners (Session 1)
  • Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright
  • Cecilia - Simon & Garfunkel
  • Love Shack - The B-52's
  • Pokémon Theme - Pokémon (Upper Canon Session 2; played at the last dance, although not in SAR.13.1)
  • Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-a-Lot
  • Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
  • Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants
  • Cotton-Eyed Joe - Rednex
  • Blame It On The Boogie - Jackson 5 (Session 1)
  • Everybody- Ingrid Michaelson
  • Wavin' Flag - K'naan (Session 2)
  • What Makes You Beautiful - One Direction
  • Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen
  • Teach Me How to Dougie - Cali Swag District
  • Wake Me Up - Avicii
  • I Love It - Icona Pop
  • Summer - Calvin Harris
  • Get Low - Lil' Jon

Dead Canon

These songs were considered lower canon but have fallen out of play, at least for second session.

  • Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
  • I Kissed A Girl - Katy Perry
  • Tiny Dancer - Elton John

Recent Additions

  • 06.1: "I'll Make a Man Out of You." It is considered to be the only song that is High Holy Canon AND an Afterdance. This tradition applies to Session 1 only and only after the last dance.
  • 06.1: "Let it Be" However, instead of "Let it Be", "Synergy" is sung in honor of Bill. Session 2 also plays the song, but does not have the synergy tradition.
  • 08.1/2: Pokémon Theme - Pokémon
  • 08.1: Come on Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners
  • 09.1: Tong Hua - Guang Liang (Michael Wong). This was the song sung by Peter Yang, the 2008 emperor, at the 08.1 talent show and is now played at the Session One dances in memory of him.
  • 09.1: I Kissed A Girl - Katy Perry, Mr Brightside - The Killers, and Blame It On The Boogie - Jackson 5 have been added to the Lower Canon.
  • 10.1: Raver's Fantasy was added as a Nevemore-only Rave at the third dance.
  • 10.1: Some Canon was switched to Lower Canon and vice-versa.
  • 10.1: Tiny Dancer - Elton John has been added to the Lower Canon.
  • 11.2: Poker Face officially made canon
  • 11.1: Nevermore only rave is just whatever one or two songs the nevermores want to glowstick to each dance. Must still have one song to let any student glowstick for though.
  • 12.1: Mike Schilling created the Bulletproof dance, which is played once at every dance (as of 13.2)
  • 13.1: Some lower canon moved to upper canon
  • 13.2: Bulletproof was officially added to Upper Canon and Everybody (Ingrid Michaelson), and Wavin' Flag (K'naan) added to Lower Canon.

Loudonville (Siena)

Note: If someone could sort out the ones that aren't played second session, that'd be great.

List compiled by RA Brendan (Loudonville 2006 Session 1 and 2)

As RAs, we got official CTY Canon CDs from ResLife to play at the dances. This is what was on them, for the curious (note that it's slightly different from the (I would assume) student-compiled list).

Upper Canon (every dance)

Played at every dance/official real Canon:

  • Blister in the Sun - The Violent Femmes
  • Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
  • Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants (banned 2005.1 because running around holding hands is too dangerous)
  • Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-a-lot
  • Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
  • Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants
  • Like A Prayer - Madonna
  • I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
  • Love Shack - The B-52's
  • The Time Warp - The Rocky Horror Picture Show
  • Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison

In particular these last four played in this order as the last four songs:

  • Nightswimming - R.E.M.
  • It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - R.E.M.
  • Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
  • American Pie - Don McLean

Lower Canon

(on a 2nd CD, RAs had the option of playing some or all of these songs, but they weren't required)

  • Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright
  • Sandstorm - Da Rude (de facto Canon)
  • Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners
  • Dragostea Din Tei - O-Zone (de-facto Canon)
  • In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
  • Sell Out - Reel Big Fish
  • Forever Young - Alphaville
  • Piano Man - Billy Joel
  • I Want You To Want Me - Cheap Trick
  • Cotton-Eyed Joe - Red-Nex
  • Heaven - DJ Sammy
  • It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls
  • Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
  • Cecilia - Simon and Garfunkel
  • Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations
  • Buddy Holly - Weezer

Other

Canon but not always played

  • Wonderwall - Oasis
  • In My Life - The Beatles

Traditions but not Canon

  • The Freshmen - The Verve Pipe
  • Leaving on a Jet Plane - Peter, Paul, and Mary
  • One More Chorus - Battlefield Band

Other

  • Fight For Your Right - The Beastie Boys
  • Origin of Love - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
  • I Touch Myself - Divynls (not played LOU 05.1)
  • Here's to the Night - Eve 6
  • I'm the Only Gay Eskimo - Corky and the Juice Pigs
  • Paradise City - Guns N' Roses
  • It's My Life - Jon Bon Jovi
  • Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) - Green Day
  • Cupid's Shuffle - Cupid

Notes

  • "Buddy Holly" in LOU 05.1 was revived at the last dance, but was not very popular.
  • "Sandstorm" is, in the opinion of the Law and Politics B Session 2 2006, Fast-Paced High School Chemistry Session 1 2006, and Mathematical Logic Session 2 2006 classes, Canon.
  • "Baby Got Back" may not be true Canon.
  • Thank you to everyone continuing "One More Chorus." I was afraid it died after 2005.
  • Siena traditionally does not chant, "Die, Die, Die, Die! Live, Live, Live, Live..." during "American Pie" because of a student who committed suicide during session one year. At Session One, however, many students, perhaps from other sites, have adopted the chant as new tradition.

Los Angeles (LMU)

LOS Canon is becoming smaller and smaller every single year with the departure of veteran RA's, and the installment of RA's who don't give a crap about tradition. The Canon has not been formalized, and there is much disagreement about what constitutes Upper, Lower, or even Canon status. Interestingly, some of the Upper Canon songs at other sites are not played here.

Upper Canon

Lower Canon

  • Caramelldansen - Caramell
  • Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
  • Make a Man Out of You - Mulan Soundtrack
  • Dragostea Din Tei - O-Zone
  • Nightswimming - R.E.M.
  • Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants
  • Forever Young – Alphaville
  • Cotton-Eyed Joe - Rednex
  • Everytime We Touch - Cascada
  • Cha Cha Slide (remix)- Casper
  • Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
  • Thriller - Michael Jackson
  • Barbie Girl - Aqua
  • Blame it on the Boogie - Jackson 5
  • Wobble - V.I.C (with accompanying group dance)


Note: Stacy's Mom is played often at the dances, and some consider it sub-canon, and others do not. Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot was formerly considered lower canon, but is reported to have been banned by the administration in 09.2 after parent complaint. It was not played in 2010.

In 14.1 (and possibly other sessions), Bailando was regarded as canon thanks to the Salsa Dancing weeklies and Let It Go was played near the end of every dance. Also, a riveting performance of All of Me at the Talent Show led to it being played after Stairway to Heaven at the last dance, meaning that it could become canon in future years. Out of all the lower canon, only Make a Man Out of You (every dance), Forever Young (last dance), Everytime We Touch, and the Cha Cha Slide (every dance) was played. This flow of new canon and loss of old canon likely signals a new era for LOS canon.

Baltimore

Baltimore doesn't have a set, official Canon beyond Stairway to Heaven and American Pie. The following songs might not be Canon--there is no official, set-in-paper Canon (YET; see below.) The following is merely a list of songs played at most, if not all, dances.

  • American Pie -- Don McLean
  • Stairway to Heaven -- Led Zeppelin
  • Forever Young -- Alphaville
  • Sandstorm -- Darude
  • Satisfaction -- Benny Benassi
  • Everytime We Touch -- Cascada
  • Don't Stop Believin' -- Journey
  • Hey There Delilah -- Plain White T's
  • Dragostea Din Tei -- O-Zone
  • Piano Man -- Billy Joel
  • Cotton-Eyed Joe --Rednex
  • Cha Cha Slide -- Casper
  • Cupid Shuffle -- Cupid
  • Waka Waka -- Shakira

N.B.-During 10.2, Tunak Tunak Tun and Istanbul (Not Constantinople) were played at all 3 dances. Canon status could soon be achieved. Also, during 10.2, Sandstorm, Satisfaction, Everytime We Touch, The Cha Cha Slide, and Cotton Eyed Joe were played at all the dances. There is also a large group of students who are pushing for the theme song from the original Pokemon series, which was played at two of the dances in 09.2, and all 3 dances in 10.2, to become Canon. There is speculation that the student-ran Traditions Committee, formed in 10.2, will indeed be making a set Canon next year. Sandstorm and Cotton Eye Joe was played at all 3 dances during 11.2.

Hawaii

Hawaii doesn't really have a canon, but it does follow a few precedents from other sites. The last three songs at every dance are Forever Young, Stairway and American Pie. Other than those, I'm not sure if there even is a playlist.

Easton

Upper Canon

  • All My Life - JoJo & K-Ci
  • Swing, Swing - All- American Rejects
  • American Pie - Don McLean

The order of the first two occasionally fluctuates, but I am reasonably sure this is the original order.

Lower Canon

  • Every Time We Touch - CASCADA
  • The Cha-Cha Slide - Casper & The Live Platinum Band
  • Cotton-Eyed Joe - Rednex
  • Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's
  • Dragostea Din Tei - O-Zone
  • Here In Your Arms - Hellogoodbye
  • Cupid Shuffle - Cupid
  • Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
  • Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations (Quasi-canon; was played at nearly every dance in '09, but has mysteriously disappeared...and then reappeared at the last dance of 11.2)
  • Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne
  • Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

The last two listed are always (usually) played at the second dance of session 2, which is traditionally a retro/decades/time warp dance. (This did not happen in 11.2, when the TA's ran the dance and it was zombie-themed.)

It should also be noted that thanks to the departure of RA's who were present for the founding of CAA Easton, many of the lower canon songs (notably Dragostea Din Tei, Everytime We Touch, Here In Your Arms, and especially Hey There Delilah) are rarely, if ever played. Sob. It should be noted that Hey There Delilah was in fact played for the first time in three years at the last dance of 11.2, right before All My Life.

Bristol

  • American Pie- Don McLean
  • Stairway To Heaven- Led Zeppelin
  • Treasure- Bruno Mars
  • Hips Don't Lie- Shakira
  • Kiss Me- Ed Sheeran
  • Teach Me How to Dougie- Cali Swag District
  • Gasolina- Reggaeton Club
  • Any random "Go away find your RA" song

Princeton

As Princeton is a relatively new site, canon is not quite official yet. The following songs were played at some or all of the dances, and the canon list is mainly a melting pot of songs played at other CTY sites. Princeton does seem to have a high holy canon, though, as Forever Young, Stairway to Heaven, and American Pie were always played at the end of the dances, in that order.

High Holy Canon

  • Forever Young - Alphaville
  • Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
  • American Pie - Don McLean

Other Canon

  • Mr. Brightside - The Killers
  • Nightswimming - R.E.M.
  • Tunak Tunak Tun - Daler Mehndi
  • Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants
  • Sandstorm - Darude
  • Cupid Shuffle - Cupid
  • In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
  • Iris - The Goo Goo Dolls
  • Pokémon Theme - Pokémon
  • Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations
  • Cotton-Eyed Joe - Rednex
  • I'll Make a Man Out of You - Mulan
  • Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
  • Every Time We Touch - Cascada
  • Poker Face - Lady Gaga
  • Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
  • Don't Stop Believin' - Journey

Great Barrington

The Great Barrington, due to its unique status as the language immersion site, had unique canon for each course, and did not take part in traditional CTY Canon such as American Pie.

Spanish

This is the list of the canon of the Spanish course at Great Barrington.

High Canon

  • El Tiburón - Proyecto Uno
  • La Bamba - Los Lobos
  • Aserejé - Las Ketchup

Low Canon

  • Como La Flor - Selena
  • Suavemente - Elvis Crespo
  • Oye Como Va - Santana
  • A Dios Le Pido - Juanes
  • La Camisa Negra - Juanes
  • La Gasolina - Daddy Yankee
  • Waka Waka (Esto Es Africa) - Shakira

Notes

During American Pie there is the customary "Die, Die, Die, Die, etc." chant, but the other sayings during the song vary by student, as many say phrases from the other sites they have been to. At the end of each dance, RAs shout "Go home, nobody loves you!" However, students, unlike at Lancaster, do not reply with "We love you!"

v • d • e
The Essential CTY
CTYCTY · CAA · Baby CTY · IAAY · CTY organization history · Contact CTY
GeneralLexicon · CTY expansions · Only at CTY · Things we like · What to bring · Courses · Staff · Hall of Fame · Hall of Shame · Shorthand Dates
SitesLancaster · Carlisle · Saratoga Springs (Skidmore) · Los Angeles (LMU) · Baltimore (JHU) · Seattle
Traditional Stuff42 · Lanyard · Canon · "American Pie" · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy · Hall · Student Hierarchy · Glowsticking (Raving) · Duct tape · Thursday · Monty Python · The Rocky Horror Picture Show · PDA · Grass orgy
Traditional EventsActivities · Mandatory Fun · Quad Time/Meet Market · Dances · The Afterdance · Cross-dress Day · Talent Show · Passionfruit
Traditional GamesThe Game · Silent Football · Mao · Mafia · Risk · Acting Improv
Outside CTYCTY Withdrawal · Reunions · RealCTY Passionfruit · Passionfruit online · Mailing lists · Scholarships · Gifted Education · Nerd Camp Documentary Movie · Other CTY websites
Please visit the Lexicon for more information.
Retrieved from "https://www.realcty.org/index.php?title=Canon&oldid=34168"