Summer camp songs - lists, links, lyrics, and rambling thoughts about music meant to be sung by voices joined in imperfect harmony.
Donkeys are in Love with Carrots - Song #36
More music alone
Music Alone Shall Live - Song # 35
Aber die musici,aber die musici
Aber die musici, bleiben bestehn.
A performance of Wha Saw the 42nd
I Love The Flowers - Song #34
When You Hear a Cannon - song #33
Rounds
Edelweiss - Song # 32
And here is a link to a young girl who sang it on Britain's Got Talent and broke down in the middle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2SxoBTkfNQ
More sloop
SLOOP JOHN A
We looked for the Sloop John A; We looked for it all day;
Round Nassau Town we did roam,
A man on the pier, Said it wasn't here;
We didn't find it, And then we went home.
Where can the John A be? Maybe the A's at sea;
We had a good look round, Then we went home.
Then we went home, We had to go home.
We didn't find it And then we went home.
The first mate was not there, Maybe he was elsewhere;
Maybe he was on board the Sloop John A;
Wherever he was, We didn't meet him because
We didn't find it, And then we went home.
Where can the John A be? Maybe the A's at sea;
We had a good look round, Then we went home,
Then we went home, We had to go home.
We didn't find it, And then we went home.
The day was a non-event, It seemed the A had went;
Then they told us that there's another called B.
B was OK; I had my heart set on A;
We didn't find it, And then we went home.
Where can the John A be? Maybe the A's at sea;
We had a good look round, Then we went home
Then we went home, We had to go home. I wanna go home.
We didn't find it, And then we went home.
Lyrics: Les Barker, published in 'Sitting With My Dog On Display'.
Recorded by David Knutsen on Tubular Dogs (catalogue no: Dog013)"
Back to the actual song, Carl Sandberg wrote that he was told the "weathered ribs of the historic craft lie imbedded in the sand at Governor's Harbor" in Nassau. Already by 1927 "Time and usage have given this song almost the dignity of a national anthem around Nassau."
Another interesting tidbit: "I've heard from one knowledgeable source that the bad things that happen on that sloop are all the result of naming the boat "John B." In Afro-Caribbean culture, nobody with a surname beginning with "B" (supposedly) will name a son "John," because the result ("John B." sounds too much like "jumby" -- a west African (Wolof/Bambera) term referring to this undead thing we've anglicized to "zombie" -- apparently it won't do to mention these creatures; "speak of the devil," and all that."
The lyrics in versions in the first part of the 20th Century are fairly close to the Beach Boys' version, with slight variations here and there. The Weavers had a hit with the song in the early 1950s. Some versions say "Mr. Johnstone" rather than "Sheriff Johnstone," so it seems unlikely there was really a lawman of that name.
Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff" seems distantly related - both songs are from the Caribbean, feature someone's travails, and have a sheriff. Loose thread, I know...
Sloop John B - Song #31
Can't you hear the captain shouting?
I've Been Working on the Railroad - Song #30
All the livelong day
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away
Can't you hear the whistle blowing
Rise up so early in the morn
Can't you hear the captain shouting
Dinah, blow your horn
Dinah, won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow your horn
Dinah, won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow your horn
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone's in the kitchen I know
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Strumming on the old banjo, and singing
Fie, fi, fiddly i o
Fie, fi, fiddly i o
Fie, fi, fiddly i o
Strumming on the old banjo
"Dinah - short for dynamite.
Kitchen - the engineer's cab of a steam locomotive
Banjo - short handled shovel"
Doodle Doo Doo - Song #29
I've just heard a melody
That is always haunting me
Funny little strain
Running thru my brain
It's as sweet as can be
It has such a pleading way
Tho' it's with me night an day
When I hear someone playing
I walk right up an say
CHORUS
Please play for me
That sweet melody
Called doo-dle doo-doo
doo-dle doo-doo
I like the rest
But what I like best
Is doo-dle doo-doo doo-dle doo-doo
Simplest thing
There's nothing much to it
Don't have to sing it
Just doo-dle doo-doo it
I love it so
Wherever I go
I doo-dle doo
doo-dle doo doo doo
I've heard all the melodies
From the blues to rhapsodies
They all come and go
But there's one I know
That'll linger and tease
I've found all the blues a pest
Rhapsodies to me a jest
So if you want to please me
Just take this one request
More L'Amour
Let every good fellow now join in this song,
Vive la compagnie!
Success to each other and pass it along,
Vive la compagnie!
(Chorus)
Vive la, vive la, vive l'amour
Vive la, vive la, vive l'amour
Vive l'amour, vive l'amour,
Vive la compagnie!
A friend on your left and a friend on your right,
Vive la compagnie!
In love and good fellowship let us unite,
Vive la compagnie!
(Chorus)
Now wider and wider our circle expands,
Vive la compagnie!
We sing to our comrades in far away lands,
Vive la compagnie!
(Chorus)
That's it. A lively song of comradeship, easy to learn, easy to sing. I will end with an amusing clip of the song being sung:
Viva L'Amour - Song #28
Published by F. D. Benteen, Baltimore, 1844.
Let Bacchus to Venus libations pour forth, Vive la compagnie!
And let us make use of our time while it lasts. Vive la compagnie!
CHORUS: Vive la, vive la, vive l'amour!
Vive la, vive la, vive l'amour!
Vive l'amour, vive l'amour,
Vive la compagnie!
Let ev'ry old bachelor fill up his glass, Vive la compagnie!
And drink to the health of his favorite lass. Vive la compagnie! CHORUS
Let ev'ry married man drink to his wife, Vive la compagnie!
The friend of his bosom and comfort of life. Vive la compagnie! CHORUS
Come fill up your glasses—I'll give you a toast, Vive la compagnie!
Here's a health to our friend—our kind worthy host. Vive la compagnie! CHORUS
Since all with good humor, I've toasted so free, Vive la compagnie!
I hope it will please you to drink now with me. Vive la compagnie! CHORUS
More Castle
My Castle on the Nile - Song #27
One Meatball video
McNamara's Band - Song #26
More James James Morrison Morrison
A few years later, there were no original members left in the trio, so the name became Denver, Boise, and Johnson. Michael Johnson later went on to have a few pop hits in the 1980s, including "Bluer than Blue,) which is very much soft rock AC radio cheese - but I always loved it anyway. He sings the catchy melody convincingly:
Denver and the original trio performed a few times together in 1987. The Chad Mitchell trio still performs. Based in Seattle, they played for President Obama in DC last year. They were first to record "Blowing in the Wind," but their label objected to the lyrics, so Peter Paul & Mary's version was released first and the rest is history.
Here is a link to the CMT's website: http://www.chadmitchelltrio.com/
Unfortunately, JJMM is not on iTunes at all, by anyone. So if you want the original, buy through the trio's website. On Lala (a great music site), the only version I found is this one:
What do Winnie the Pooh and The Doors have in common? - Song #25
JAMES JAMES MORRISON MORRISON
James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George DuPree
Took great care of his mother though he was only three
James James said to his mother:
"Mother," he said, said he
"You must never go down to the end of the town,
if you don't go down with me.
Don't ever go down to the end of the town,
if you don't go down with me."
James James Morrison's mother put on her golden gown
James James Morrison's mother, she drove to the end of the town
James James Morrison's mother
She said to herself, said she
"Well, I can get down to the end of the town
And be back in time for tea.
Well, I can get down to the end of the town
And be back in time for tea."
King John put up a notice: "Lost, stolen or strayed,
James James Morrison's mother,
She seems to have been mislaid
Wandering vaguely all about quite of her own accord
She tried to get down to the end of the town--
Forty shillings reward.
She tried to get down to the end of the town--
Forty shillings reward.
James James Morrison Morrison, commonly known as "Jim"
Said to his other relations not to go blaming him
For James James said to his mother
"Mother", he said, said he
"Don't ever go down to the end of the town,
If you don't go down with me.
You must never go down to the end of the town,
If you don't go down with me."
Now James James Morrison's mother,
She hasn't been heard of since,
King John sent down to give his regrets,
And so did the queen and the prince,
King John, somebody told me,
Said to a man he knew,
"If people go down to the end of the town,
Well what can anyone do?
If people go down to the end of the town,
Well what can anyone do?"
I am not sure who set the words to music, but looks like it may be Chad Mitchell, who recorded the song with his folk trio in the early 1960s.