More L'Amour

A few more words on the song from the previous post, known variously as "Viva L'Amour" or "Vive La Compagnie." When I first learned the song at age 9 - and for a few summers after - I thought the phrase was "Viva La Moore," because the Camp Director was (and still is) Dave Moore. Naturally, I thought it was an homage to him.

Here are the lyrics as Camp Ajawah knows them - you can see that while they differ quite a bit from the 1844 version posted earlier, one begat the other:

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: