Camp Songs To Run By
I just started jogging a little this past fall. I still don’t really like it yet, but I dislike it less than I did when I started. I was bored to exhaustion though, pounding my feet on the pavement. So I stirred up a repertoire of camp songs. I eventually broke down and bought a little Sony Walkman SRF-M80V. It has tv, weather and am/fm, so I’m set for receiving music, though my favorite station is our local NPR afiiliate. I can jog to a good interview on Morning Edition or Fresh Air. Then my sweetie bought me an iPod mini, so I can control what I’m hearing. But sometimes still, I disconnect the earphones, listen to the birds, and just rattle through a few camp songs.
I don’t do the hand motions, for those songs that have them, because that would be too scary for people who see me. I’m scary enough to see run anyway.
So, here’s a list of a few of my favorite foot-pounding camp songs. Most are already splattered all over the ‘net, even though the words may not be exactly as we sang them. Ah, well, that’s part of the lore - passing on the stories in song, with a few changes, as will happen.
Recognize these?
- Darlin’, you can’t love one… You can’t love one and still have fun, I’m a-leavin’ on the midnight train, La-dee-dah, uh-huh, oh boy. (Followed by 9 more verses)
- Miss Effie (”I didn’t know the gun was loaded…”)
- Spider’s Web (”There is a fountain in a valley by a big oak tree”)
- Cowboy Joe (”Way out west where the bad men are and the only thing to guide you is the evenin’ star…)
- Eddie Brown (…fell into the well…)
- Green Grow the Rushes, oh…(I’ll Sing You One, ho…).
- Love Grows Under the Wide Oak Tree (…sugar flows like candy…).
More to come, I am sure.
