Best Camping Songs

So you've just had a long day of family reunioning. Everyone has finished eating and you just washed the last pot (you did help with the dishes, didn't you???). The sun is down, and everyone is gathered around the campfire. Uncle Bob has just told a couple of stories about your dad that you didn't know about. You didn't know he was such a renegade when he was a kid, did you?

Cousin Steve is softly plucking away at his guitar. Someone suggests a campfire songfest. What a good idea! The only problem is, cousin Steve can only play "Louie, Louie" and "Stairway to Heaven." No problem, just sing without the guitar.

Alright, who's in charge here anyway?

Uncle Bob suggests his favorite Doobie Brothers song. Unfortunately, he's the only one who knows it.

So, now what?

This is the point where a lot of campfire singalongs die. Just a little preparation can help avoid the death of singing camp fire songs.

In a nutshell, the best camping songs to sing in a group are fun songs or silly songs that people already know or, songs that can be learned easily. So trying to sing long songs like, "El Paso", "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" or all the verses of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" is probably not a good idea.

If you feel the need to sing a song that is quite long, then print the words off for participants to read. You may be having a church oriented campfire where a certain camp song would really add to the program. But remember; if it's nighttime, it's dark! So if you hand out the words to a song, participants need to have flashlights, or, they need to be close enough to the fire that the light can help them see the words.

If you have a lot of young children, movement songs are great. A couple of fun camp songs that come to mind are:

B-I-N-G-O. With this song, everyone sings the first verse normal. Then the second verse, leave out the letter B, and clap in it's place. On the third verse, leave out the B and the I, and clap in their places. Continue until you are not spelling out the word at all but just clapping.

My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. On this song, every time you come to a b, you either stand up or sit down, alternating back and forth.

In the Great American Campfire Songbook, there are several camp songs that are great for young children involving movement. There are also some great campfire songs that people may not know, but are easy to

learn. Two that come to mind are:

Chumbara. This song comes from Canada. It is one word over and over again, but it's a lot of fun. You can use other words, also. Three syllable words are best, but you can also try 2 or 4 syllable words. Try names, like E-mi-ly, or Je-re-my. Foods are good, such as spa-ghet-ti, blue-ber-ry, or broc-col-li. This is great for groups, as people help make up the next verse.

There Ain't No Bugs On Me. This is also a "make up your verses as you go along" song. In the first verse the two words that rhyme are Bug and Mug. In the next verse, think of new words to put in their place like, "flies and guys", "spiders and fighters", "ants and pants", "bees and knees", "cougars and boogers". Get the picture?

Some of the songs that we do around our family campfires include the following:

You Are My Sunshine

I've Been Working on the Railroad

Red River Valley

Clementine

Home on the Range

Remember, the key is to:

Do songs everybody knows, or
Do songs that are easy to learn, or
Have a copy of the words

Of course, the best camping songs are in The Great American Campfire Songbook.

Happy singing!

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