More Musical Mystery Mayhem

I can find a few references to the lyrics of "It's Going to be a Long Summer," but little else - not a performance or anything about the origins.  So I am asking for your help - anyone know much about the song that goes through the four seasons and starts like this?

It's going to be a long summer
and what will the birdies do then, the poor things
They'll fly to the pool to keep themselves cool
and tuck their heads under their wings.

Mystery Solved!

In my last post, I asked if anyone had any idea from whence sprang the song sung at Camp Ajawah as "If You Want to be a Boy Scout."  I asked the same thing on the Summer Camp Songs Facebook page and am glad to say someone provided an answer

It came from one state over, as a song played by the University of Wisconsin marching band at football games.  Someone at some point simply substituted the words "Boy Scout" for "Badger."

In 1919, U of W professor Julian Olson wrote the words for IYWTBAB for an alumni dinner and asked the school's musical director, Charles Mills, to set the lyrics to music.  Without further ado, here is an instrumental version...

And a vocal version:

 

Another musical mystery

Googling a song from my days at Camp Ajawah, I found nothing online other than references to this very website or to Camp Ajawah songbooks.  The lyrics are:

If you want to be a Boy Scout
just come along with me 
and we'll hike by the light
by the light of the moon

If you want to be a Boy Scout
just come along with me
and we'll hike by the light of the moon.

By the light of the silvery moon
Oh, we will hike by the light of the moon
If you want to be a Boy Scout
just come along with me
and we'll hike by the light of the moon.

Oh, the Boy Scouts are coming with a choo-choo rah rah
Choo-choo rah rah
Choo-choo rah rah
Oh, the Boy Scouts are coming with a choo-choo rah rah
Choo-choo hurrah hurrah hurrah Hey! Hey! Hey!

So maybe they aren't the most sophisticated lyrics in the world, but the tune itself is rousing and well suited for group singing.  Not everyone at camp - or even most - were Boy Scouts, but we all hiked.

I searched under the title "If You want to be a Boy Scout" and also tried using various fragments of the lyrics, as it's not unusual for songs to have words altered a bit to fit a different use.  But nothing turned up.

A note: for the line "By the light of the silvery moon" the melody comes from the 1909 Broadway standard of that title, but the rest of the song has a different melody and tempo.

I'll try asking the folks who know Camp Ajawah's history the best if they know from whence came this song, but if you know anything about it, please share your info in the comments.  

A Playlist of Summer Camp Songs

This is by no means complete or comprehensive, but it's a decent sampling of many of the songs listed on this site.  Please take a listen and let me know what you think.

UPDATE: September 22, 2013 - I just checked the link and now I only see two songs.  I no longer have an active account at Google Music, so your mileage may vary - or may be just as paltry.  Sorry.

Google Playlist

The Song Detective: The Case of "I Want to Camp Until I'm 73"

As I post about the scores of songs I learned at Camp Ajawah in Minnesota, I dig around to see what I can find about the origins of each tune.  For most, there is ample information online.  Some are old folk songs; others are copyrighted and the composer is readily found; and others fall in between.

Once in a while I will find next to nothing about a particular song.  The most recent example is a very short tune whose lyrics in their entirety consist of:

I want to camp until I'm 73
For camping life is really great
I must avoid the marriage state
So Cupid keep your darts away from me
Until I'm 30, 40, 50, 60, 73.

Other than links to Camp Ajawah and this blog, all I've found are a few other random camps where a variation of "I Want to Camp" is sung.

A Girl Scout camp in Massachusetts (though to a different tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic)
Another Girl Scout camp (in Wisconsin)
Lincoln, NE YMCA songbook

And that's it.  No videos, no sheet music, no clue as to when or where it originated, or who wrote it.  Is it only known in a handful of camps, and, if so, who was the thread who connected MN, WI, NE and MA?

I tried searching fragments of the lyrics to see if it's related to some other, better known song, but I came up empty handed.  On my summer camp songs facebook page, I asked if anyone had any knowledge about the song.  Nada.

Sherlock is stumped.  I turn to you, my friends, to ask for any clues.  Let's solve this riddle!