Old Girl Scout Songs

Subject: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Wendy
Date: 21 May 99 - 11:46 PM

If anyone remembers a song/chant that was for a group of at least 6 people that had parts to it and it started with one person then each new part was added on top of it. Some of the parts were Coffee,Tea or me sir....here's your little bag(blach) also Come on Bessie give the baby's got to live and Window washer with something to do with a spot. Each part also had motions to do with it and by the end it was very funny.

Thanks

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: John Hindsill
Date: 22 May 99 - 10:19 AM

How old do you have to be to be an Old Girl Scout?

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 May 99 - 12:09 PM

Obviously I haven't kept pace with current Girl Scout philosophies.......Lemme' see if I got this:

You get 6 Girl Scouts together for some form of ritual chant about coffee, tea, or ME??? They're passing bags of some unknown substance around and everybody is playing with different parts and are somehow involved with a window washer who gives the one named Bessie a baby? And somehow by the end this thing is really funny possibly having something to do with spotting or the window washer?

You know this just confirms that all the Cookie Crappola has been just a clever front for some devious and deviant perverse organization that is ruining our youth and stealing away the values of Mom, Apple Pie, and AK-47's which we hold dear.

catspaw

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: bet
Date: 22 May 99 - 06:51 PM

Boy Wendy, that's one I didn't learn and I spent over 30 years in theScouts as a scout, counslor, leader and state board member. It sounds cute, I'll keep watching and hope to learn it. bet

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 22 May 99 - 09:06 PM

When my dear Caroline was a Girl Scout (she was so gung ho she was also a Campfire Girl!) they sang about "white wings" and canoe paddles "flashing like silver," or "walking at night." None of this "coffee, tea or ME" stuff! She suspects that her scouting days were a few decades earlier than those suggested by this song. Barf bags, indeed! Not in her day!

Sandy (folk fogey)

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Banjer
Date: 22 May 99 - 09:31 PM

Am I just a pervert in a class by myself or does the title and content of this thread conjure up the vision of a group of elderly ladies sitting around in Girl Scout uniforms singing bawdy ballads for any one else as well?

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Susan of DT
Date: 23 May 99 - 01:30 PM

While we don't have the song you are requesting, there are several songs that have filenames beginning with GS, so try searching for gs* (gets a mix of scouts and other songs that happen to contain gs), @scouts, and @camp.

I was a girl scout in the 50s & 60s. Cadets had not been invented until after I passed that age group - it was Brownies, Intermediates, and Seniors.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: bet
Date: 24 May 99 - 01:22 PM

Banjer, I'm just thinking a bunch of 'old' gray haired ladies sitting around the campfire singing would be great. Memories would realy start. bet

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Indy Lass
Date: 24 May 99 - 01:59 PM

Catspaw--I was a girlscout back in the days when the Monkeys were "cool." I got in the worst trouble ever because of a girlscout camping trip. Our troop was staying in a barn on some girl scout council property one rainy night, up in a hay loft. We had our lanterns for light so things were a bit dim. Anyway, some of us decided to play strip polker. Nothing really different from our girls locker room at school and we were all best buddies anyway. But we really caught heck when another girl scout ratted on us. We became th talk of the school and church. "And to think they were Girl Scouts!!"

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: sharon
Date: 24 May 99 - 02:54 PM

I was a girl scout back in the 50's. I could sing you many-a -song that we sang at camp, but never the one you requested. Now if you'd like "Each campfire light anew. or Girl Scouts Together (I loved that one) or Our Chalet... Or Peace, I ask of Thee Old River... Oh, wouldn't it be fun for a bunch of us old Girl Scouts to sit around a campfire today, and sing all those good old scout songs! What other songs could we sing?

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Indy Lass
Date: 24 May 99 - 03:37 PM

Here are some songs I dug up from my old "girl scouts" songbook: Ruthie's Place--Canadian Wilderness--Dona,Dona,Dona--Here We Are--Land of the Silver Birch--Oleana--Border Trail--any other girlscouts remember these?

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Terry
Date: 24 May 99 - 04:50 PM

Along with "Our Chalet," we sang a lot of rounds in my girl scout troop. "White Coral Bells" and "Make New Friends" were our leader's favorites.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 24 May 99 - 05:09 PM

If they're not in DigiTrad, POST 'EM, DAMMIT!

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Bert
Date: 24 May 99 - 05:30 PM

I notice that some of you gals have been Girl Scouts since the fifties, and NONE of you has admitted to singing Kumbaya!!

Bert.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Susan of DT
Date: 24 May 99 - 06:35 PM

Bert - would you believe that when my troop sang Kumbaya, it had hand motions.

Several of the songs mentioned are in the DT - Our Chalet, When Ere You Make a Promise, Make New Friends, etc.

Sandy I used to know that one with paddles flashing like silver, but I don't think I can resurrect it.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: bet
Date: 24 May 99 - 07:13 PM

Boy do these bring back memories!!! How about Yosha and Josha, Been Ridin', Winkin' Blinkin' and Nod, IKnow A Place, Wa' Saw, Tall Timbers Calling, The Seine, Roll Ye Covered Wagons, Been Ridin', Desert Silvery Blue, The Ash Grove. Boy I could go on and on and on! My days as a Scout started in the late 40's I'm still a Scout, dues payed and all. That makes me REALLY old but young at heart. bet

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: sharon
Date: 24 May 99 - 09:54 PM

My paddle's keen and bright,
Flashing like silver,
Follow the wild goose flight.
Dip, dip and swing.
Dip, dip and swing her back.
Flashing like silver.
Follow the wild goose flight.
Dip, dip and swing.
^^

Do you remember "I'm happy when I'm hiking?" And Sarasponda, with the boomta, boomta in the background. And "I Zigga Zumba, Zumba, Zumba", with "Chief, Chief, Chief" in the background.....supposed to be a Zulu song.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: okscout
Date: 24 May 99 - 10:19 PM

in a public response to Dick's "POST 'EM, DAMMIT!" I have to say, I sent them to you Dick. They never appeared. I sent probably 200 of those GS songs. Where did they go?

nancy

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 May 99 - 12:00 AM

Bet! Your NOT old! You can't be, 'cause then I'd be getting up there and don't you know "little sisters" never age?*BG*

So, Bet just posted half of our repetoire for the Wyoming Culture Fest on June 12th! The other half are old cowboy songs our dad and mom sang.

I wasn't in scouts until the 60's, then I was a co-leader for a short time in CT, in the later 80's, early 90's. Lot of fun, same, great songs.

katlaughing

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Night Owl
Date: 25 May 99 - 12:50 AM

Should we wear our old uniforms around the campfire???? Geeze I love this place....great memories from childhood. bet....do you have the rest of the words to "I know a place...." I only get as far as "where the sun is like gold"....and then BLANK!!!! What's the name of the song??

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 May 99 - 02:50 AM

Say, Nancy - it takes time for songs to get into the database, but they're immediately available to all the world if you post 'em here in the forum. If you have the time, please post them.
-Joe Offer, always looking for good Scout songs-

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: bet
Date: 25 May 99 - 01:18 PM

Night Owl,I'll send words this evening, lunch time doesn't last long enough. Joe, I met to post some last night but spent 3 hours paying BILLS, AAUUGGGGGG! Will work on some tonight. bet

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Indy Lass
Date: 25 May 99 - 01:34 PM

"I Know a Place" may be the same song we called "Ruthie's Place"

I know a place where no one ever goes
There's peace and quiet, beauty, and repose
It's hidden in a valley beside a mountain stream
And lying there beside that stream I find that I can dream
Only of things of beauty to the eye
Snow peaked mountains tow'ring in the sky
Now I know that God has made this world for me...etc.

Is this the one you're thinking of? 'Cause if it is I can send the rest of the words if you'd like. Does it match the music you know? I don't know how to send the music.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: okscout
Date: 25 May 99 - 08:21 PM

Hey, Joe,

I wasn't complaining. DT is the neatest thing I've found on the internet. It was several years ago when Prodigy was #1, AOL had no ads and I thought I was really hot 'cause I could code in QBASIC.

Girl Scout songs, hmmm.

Before I start typing, I'm gonna make sure that they aren't part of DT, okay?

Nancy

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Susan of DT
Date: 25 May 99 - 08:26 PM

Nancy - I wonder if we ever got your 200 songs. Did you send them to Connecticut? I donn't remember Dick mentioning them and if they were clearly girl scout related he probably would have delegated them to me.

Sharon - Thanx for the canoe song. I checked the DT for Zulu for Zulu warrior and did not find it, but I think there was a thread about 6 months ago on it.

Bet - At least a few of those are in the DT.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: bet
Date: 25 May 99 - 10:22 PM

Susan of DT, I wonder what I am doing wrong. I went to the DT to see which of the songs was not in there, tried all capitals, first letter capital and did not find a single one of the songs. Can you help me? I'll bug kat when she gets home if I need to. thaks bet

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 May 99 - 12:34 AM

Hey, bet! As far as I know capitals don't matter in the DT. If you are looking for a whole title, it helps to put brackets around it like this: [been ridin].

I went through your list and just looked with putting in the titles and came up with just two: Tall Timbers and four versions of Ash Grove (not sure which one you know, cause I don't remember that one). So.....maybe after our "gig" on June 12th we oughta post some of them?

See ya later,

kat

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Susan of DT
Date: 26 May 99 - 07:58 PM

Under GS* I found:
When E'er You Make a Promise
We Are Called The Girl Scouts
Taps
Mariners' Taps
Our Chalet and
Make New Friends
I also found Tall Timbers (not under GS). The version of Ash Grove I sang in scouts (no one is buried beneath the ash grove) is in. I did not find Swinging Along the Open Road or I Love the Daffodils, so I guess I had better enter them. I was sure The Seine was in, because it was in one of my handwritten notebooks that eventually became the DT, but I guess not.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From:
Date: 27 May 99 - 12:02 AM

One of my favorite scout songs, probably sung first in California kid camps.
^^
Moon on the meadow,bugs in our ears,
Smoke in our eyes,wet wood and tears,
On up the meadow,water somewhere,
We were the only ones there.

Wild Horse and Slushy, Dry Lakes, the peaks,
Finding the love there everyone seeks
Hiking to rainbows, sunsets and stars
Just finding out who we are.

We will return here one lucky day,
Our hearts will guide us, they've learned the way
People in cities can't understand
Falling in love with the land.

Mooon on the meadow, bugs in our ears,
Smoke in our eyes, wet wood and tears,
On up the meadow, water somewhere
With you my friend, I am there.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: bet
Date: 27 May 99 - 06:24 PM

Thanks Susan, I guess I missed something. I didn't know to look under GS. thanks bet

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Susan of DT
Date: 27 May 99 - 08:22 PM

Bet - I cheat a little, because I know how we set up the filenames. You can search for any phrase in a song between [square brackets] to keep the phrase together. A search for [girl scout*] gets 10 hits. If you fine a song with a number at the bottom, either Child #xx or DT #xxx, you can also search for that # to find its cousins. I mentioned the GS* because others would not know it.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: catspaw49
Date: 28 May 99 - 12:32 AM

OK...So Susan, if I type in BS do I get Boy Scout songs or songs that are totally BS? Just askin'.........

catspaw

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: bet
Date: 28 May 99 - 01:23 PM

I like that question, catspaw. If I type it in I will probably get the BS. bet

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: bet
Date: 28 May 99 - 10:36 PM

THE SEINE^^
1. One night along the river at St. Germainde Pre
I first met my beloved at a small side walk cafe
We walked along the river the shadow passing by
But we only saw each other, the shinning water and the sky.

chorus: The Seine, the Seine, when will I again,
meet her there, greet her there
On the moon light banks of the Seine.

2. Standing there across the river mid sound of horn and tram
In all her quiet beauty the Cathedral Notra Dame
And as we passed beside her, I said a little pray
That when this dream was over, I'd awake and find you there.

3. We walked along the river 'till dawn was coming nigh
Beneath the Eiffel Tower we said our last good-bye
Then on that splendid morn' I saw you all in tears
And the beauty of that hour will shine within me thru the years.

really like this song bet

Click here for related thread.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: bet
Date: 29 May 99 - 11:27 AM

Joe, thanks. I did check it out. bet

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: SINSULL
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 03:33 PM

This brings back fond memories of a "banned" Nixon campaign poster showing a very young, very pregnant pigtailed Girl Scout in uniform pointing to her protruding tummy and declaring "Nixon's the One!" (His campaign slogan)

Coffee, tea or me??? I had a troop for years and never heard it.

SS

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: MMario
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 03:38 PM

I have a vague memory of this being done by a gaggle of teenage girls at a summer camp. They claimed they learned it through Girl Scouts.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: GUEST,Allan S.
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 04:10 PM

COuldn't resist this thread. Being an old BOY SCOUT 47 years. OLd friends are the best so........... Start an alumni assoc.start searching for people who were in your troop. Go back to the camp for a walk around Sing the old songs and watch the tears start. We have an Alumni assoc. for Camp Sequassen in CT and get together 2 times a year at camp help out with the kids, or just kick back and relax. Sing the old songs and teach them to the new kids, keep the traditions going. Keep those old friends they were the best. good luck Allan

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: GUEST,open mike
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 06:22 PM

how about rise up oh flame and peace i ask of thee o river? Rosalie sorrels has a tune she does about her grandmothers' gardens which reminds me of white coral bells the chorus goes:^^

These are the bells of ireland
Which in my garden grow
My great grandmother brought
Those seeds from Ireland long ago
Their music it is sweet and sad
Like orphan angels sing
If you listen in your heart
You'll hear those bells of Ireland ring

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Melani
Date: 30 Jun 00 - 02:09 AM

I learned half the folk songs I know in Girl Scouts. It's where I first heard the chantey "Donkey Riding", but had no idea what it was about, with verses like "Was you ever in Quebec, stowing timber on the deck...Riding on a donkey." I had a vision of a small four-legged gray animal carrying a load of long boards...I'd never heard of a donkey engine.

There actually are bunches of gray-haired little old ladies sitting around campfires in uniform singing these songs. Some people really are Girl Scouts for life.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: ivy b*
Date: 30 Jun 00 - 05:45 AM

perhaps its something about the difference between 'girl guides' and 'girl scouts' but i never sang any of these songs in any of the troops i was in. we did do 'everywhere we go' which was nice and loud on coaches and on brownie camp we used to sing mild hymns but thats about it. maybe ive been a victim of 'modernisation' and trying to appeal to 'young people nowadays' or maybe it was just something to do with being a guide in south essex... pity because some of these songs sound great. just for the record the 'coffee tea and me' sounds vaugly familiar but i couldnt add anymore lines to what you already have. was it a clapping game or just a song?

ivy b*

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Allan C.
Date: 30 Jun 00 - 10:35 AM

Open mike, "Rise Up Oh Flame" is a real favorite of mine. I nearly always sing it when in front of a campfire - whether anyone else is there or not!

Oh, and in case nobody else has done so, open mike, Sharon, Allan S., Terry, Annieglenn, okscout, Wendy and ivy b* : I would like to say, welcome to the Mudcat! Glad you are here! Those of you who are still posting as guests - go ahead and do the Membership thing. It costs nothing. You will not be spammed with crap from who knows where. And you will quickly discover the joys of Personal Messages and the ability to put a "Trace" on a favorite discussion thread so that you can easily find it again long after it has drifted off the list. But one of my favorite features is the "Messages since last visit" which is (for me) the "home" page which pops up whenever I get online. For those of you who are already members and haven't taken a look at these features - I urge you to do so. Send me a personal message just to check out that feature if you want. It is fun!

Allan C.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: Hollowfox
Date: 30 Jun 00 - 11:48 AM

Folks, the original question seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. I wish I knew the song, myself,and I'd love to learn it. I wonder if the Girl Scouts website has a place to opst questions?

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Song
From: GUEST,Vikki Appleton Fielden
Date: 05 Oct 03 - 08:35 PM

What I remember from my Girl Scout days (in the 60s) is:

"Here's your coffee, here's your tea, here's your paper bag (bleah!!)"

It had hand motions that went with it. The other bits mentioned don't ring a bell.

As I think more about it, I seem to vaguely remember this being part of a skit some of the counselors presented on a sort of talent show evening.

Each "verse" was prefaced by a chorus (is it still a chorus if it comes *before* each verse rather than after?) that went:

If I were not a counselor
Something else I'd rather be
If I were not a counselor
A (fill in the blank) I'd be

So the verse I mentioned went with
"A stewardess I'd be" (of course).

I can't remember many of the other "verses", except for
"A chicken-plucker I'd be.

"Pluck a chicken, pluck a chicken, wring its little neck! (Squawk!)"

If any more verses come to me, I'll post them.

I suspect that the chicken-plucker verse may have been "written" that very evening... it strikes me (now -- it didn't then) that it might well be one of those songs where there are a few standard verses and then people come up with their own -- especially if they have more people than verses.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs - coffee/tea...
From: Susan of DT
Date: 06 Oct 03 - 10:43 AM

A lot of songs have been mentioned in this thread, many of which are already in the DT. Some I can easily enter, but many others I do not know, so I need you to post them. A summary:

Coffee Tea of Me                partial version posted, can someone
                                    finish it?
Canoe Paddle                   posted, harvested
Girl Scouts Together            I'll enter it
Our Chalet                      already in
When e're you make a promise    already in
Peace I ask of thee o river    already in
Ruthie's Place                  partial version posted
                                  Can someone finish it?
Canadian Wilderness             Is this Canadian Traveler??
Dona dona                      already in
Here we are                     don't know it, so ??
Land of Silver Birch            please post
Oleanna                         already in
Border Trail                   please post
While Coral Bells               please post- I know some of it...
Make New Friends                already in
Kumbayah                        I can't believe it isn't there
                                  I'll enter it
Yosha & Josha                   please post
Been Ridin'                     please post
Winkin, Blinkin & Nod          I must have somewhere, but...
I know a place                  partial posting, please complete
Tall timbers calling            already in The Seine harvested
Roll ye covered wagons please post
Desert Silver Blue please post
Ash Grove already in, version 2
Happy when I'm hiking please post
Zulu Warrior I'll post what I know and you can add
I love the Daffodils already in
Swinging Along the Open Road I'll post what I know
Rise Up o Flame please post
Bells of Ireland harvested
Donkey Riding already in

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Susan of DT
Date: 06 Oct 03 - 10:58 AM

Here is what I remember of some of the somgs mentioned, which may not be complete, so please post additions.

SWINGING ALONG THE OPEN ROAD

Swinging along the open road
Swinging along under a sky that's clear
Swinging along the open road
All in the Fall, in the Fall of the year
Swinging along, swinging along the open road
All in the Fall of the year

ZULU WARRIOR

I give a zumba, zumba, zumba
I give a zumba zumba zay

See him dance, the Zulu warior
See him dance, the Zulu chief, chief, chief...

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: NH Dave
Date: 06 Oct 03 - 11:55 AM

Rather than posting all the songs here, why not do a Google search for Girl or Boy Scout Songs, or check here Scouting Songs

Dave
a NH Scouter

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: PageOfCups
Date: 06 Oct 03 - 04:46 PM

Back to the original question again - I saw this song done in college, as entertainment for a group. It went something like:

If I wasn't in (group name)
Something else I'd rather be
If I wasn't in (group name)
A (fill in the blank) I'd be

The verse about Bessie was for "A farmer's wife I'd be":
Give, Bessie, give - the baby's gotta live! (miming milking a cow)

Another verse was: "An ice cream maker I'd be":
Ooshy gooshy, ooshy gooshy, good ice cream! (miming churning, then licking a cone)

I remember the window washer verse only vaguely and don't recall the words.

PoC

Subject: Lryic Add: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Tinker
Date: 06 Oct 03 - 08:32 PM

Desert Silvery Blue has a thread here.
^^
I've got a different version

I Know a Place
^^
I know a place where the sun is like gold
And the cheery blooms burst with snow--ow
And down underneaath is the lovliest nook
Where the four leaf clovers grow

One leaf is for faith and one is for hope
And one is for love we know-ow
And God put another in for luck
If you search you will find where they grow.

But you must have faith and you must have hope
You must love and be strong and so--oo
If you watch if you wait you will find the place
Where the four leaf clovers grow.


White Coral Bells has a thread here.

That's all I can find for now...Susan, maybe we can cornor JUdy Cook and do Girl Scout Songs at Getaway???

Tinker

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: LadyJean
Date: 06 Oct 03 - 08:32 PM

I encountered the chant first mentioned at Freshman Talent Night, at Transylvania College in Lexington Kentucky, 20 years ago. A group of the girls did it. My roommate's verse was, "A drunk me, pop a cork and take a swig and spend the night in jail." As she was a class A lush, of the most annoying kind, it was singularly appropriate.

Zumba Zumba was a Marais and Miranda song, I think. (Mom had their 78s.) The second verse is "See him there beside the fire! See him there beside the flame!"

At that same Freshman talent night, I sang Ewen McColl's "The Maid's Gang Tae the Mill and Back". Most of the audience didn't understand it. Which is how I got away with singing that song at a small, southern, denominational college.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Jen M
Date: 07 Oct 03 - 06:56 AM

Here We Are (as I learned it in central PA in the 60's)It's kind of out of date.
^^ Here we are, we're all together;
Having fun, what could be better;
We welcome you in our own way,
Girl Scouts, Girl Scouts, we all say;
Colors worn are yellow and green;
We take pride that can be seen;
So just stay with us for a while,
And will treat you Girl Scout Style.
Girl Scouts, we will sing it.
Girl Scouts, ring-a-ding it
Girl Scouts, we will sing it.
We're the best in the land of the free-ba-dum-bum-bum.
Now you know the reason why,
We take pride you can't deny,
So just stay with us for a while,
And will treat you Girl Scout Style.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Susan of DT
Date: 07 Oct 03 - 08:36 PM

Where I think we are now:


Coffee Tea of Me                partial version posted, can someone
                                    finish it?
Canoe Paddle                   ready
Girl Scouts Together          ready
Our Chalet                      already in
When e're you make a promise    already in
Peace I ask of thee o river    already in
Ruthie's Place                  partial version posted
                                  Can someone finish it?
Canadian Wilderness             Is this Canadian Traveler??
Dona dona                      already in
Here we are                     don't know it, so ??
Land of Silver Birch            ready
Oleanna                         already in
Border Trail                   please post
While Coral Bells               was harvested
Make New Friends                already in
Kumbayah                        ready
Yosha & Josha                   please post
Been Ridin'                     please post
Winkin, Blinkin & Nod          I must have somewhere, but...
I know a place                  ready
Tall timbers calling            already in
The Seine                      ready
Roll ye covered wagons          please post
Desert Silver Blue             ready
Ash Grove                      already in, version 2
Happy when I'm hiking          ready
Zulu Warrior                   posted for additions
I love the Daffodils            already in
Swinging Along the Open Road    posted for additions
Rise Up o Flame                please post
Bells of Ireland                ready
Donkey Riding                   already in
These will appear in the 2004 version of the Digital Tradition, since the 2003 version is closed and under development with 9500 songs.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Tinker
Date: 07 Oct 03 - 09:53 PM

Sandy mentions Caroline singing this one at camp and I can't find the words here..But Contemplator
gives this info

"White Wings was a popular novel written by William Black in the 1880's. In 1912 Banks Winter wrote this song. "White Wings" refers to the sails of a ship. "

White Wings

Sail! home, as straight as an arrow,
My yacht shoots along on the crest of the sea;
Sail! home, to sweet Maggie Darrow,
In her dear little home
She is waiting for me.

High up! where cliffs they are craggy
There's where, the girl of my heart waits for me
Heigh! ho, I long for you, Maggie
I'll spread out my "White Wings"
And sail home to thee.

Yo! ho, how we go!
Oh! how the winds blow!
"White Wings" they never grow weary,
They carry me cherrily over the sea.
Night comes, I long for my dearie,
I'll spread out my "White Wings"
And sail home to thee.


By the time I got to camp in 1968 ( The camp was founded in 1918) we sang the last five lines, then verse two and said white sails instead of white wings. Just a bit of Folk process...

Tinker

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: LadyJean
Date: 08 Oct 03 - 12:24 AM

From Camp Riamo,
Out of my tent flap looking in the night, I can see the flashlights burning bright.
Noisily go the campers to the john, and the councillors too go yelling on
Campers! I would like to go with you, I would like to torture counsillors too.
Campers, are there pitchforks in your tent? Do you fight with counsillors old and bent.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 08 Oct 03 - 03:45 AM

Page of Cups has pushed the original request a little further, and I remember seeing this at Scout camps, but also on stage (either in Pantomime, or a revue show, like the "Gang Shows" put on by Scouts under the directorship of Ralph Reader) The version I recall started

If I were not upon the stage
Something else I'd like to be
If I were not upon the stage
A ___________ I would be
You'd hear me all day long,
and this would be my song.
_________________________________

The singer would then put actions to his words, washing windows, sorting mail etc., Each singer would take a different occupation, and different actions, and at the end of each new verse the last line of each would be repeated, with actions. The comic effect of this had one set of action close to decapitating the next singer, whilst his set of actions caused him to bow or kneel at that point, thus avoiding outflung arms.
Choreography was important as singing at this stage

Nigel

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 08 Oct 03 - 03:52 AM

Brief mention of contemporary use here!

Nigel

Subject: Lyr Add: Rise Up, O Flame
From: Burke
Date: 08 Oct 03 - 10:18 PM

Rise Up, O Flame
by Christoph Praetorius c.1600

Rise up, O flame
By thy lights glowing
Show to us beauty,
Vision and Joy

@round

Tune can be heard
Here

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Melena
Date: 03 Nov 03 - 06:20 PM

Original Question:

The verses I remember are:

If I were not a counselor... what a joy my life would be...
If I were not a counselor... a _________ I would be
And as you walk on by... you would hear me cry:

Fireman: Jump Lady Jump! Psyche! Splat (2 times)
Stuartist: Coffee sir... tea sir... barf bag... blah (2 times)

I have all of the verses written down somewhere. Let me go find them -- respnd if you still need them.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Joe_F
Date: 03 Nov 03 - 06:26 PM

I am not equipped to have been a Girl Scout. However, in 1959, in Britain, I was the only non-Girl Guide in a train car full of them, and they were singing: "Does your chewing gum lose its flavo(u)r on the bedpost overnight?"

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 02:12 AM

Hi, Melena - if the original 1999 requestor dosen't want those verses, most likely somebody will. Please post them, if you can.
Thanks.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: mg
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 03:21 PM

I remember a couple I haven't heard elsewhere..this would be in SW Washington in the 1950's...one was ...long live the King, this is a good day or else we would not sing......taste before you buy singing oh what a Merry Land is England...then you would put a nursery rhyme in there..like a game...another I think is an old Czheck song translated into bad English..above a hill of gold and green a young boy's head is clearly/plainly seen....pretty tune....then I heard a version of Paddy works on the Railway from Mrs. Kavanaugh, our leader...that either I simplified or misremembered or perhaps it is a whole other version..we (or I) sang erie erie irie oh working on the railroad...

mg

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Casper
Date: 16 Apr 04 - 03:46 AM

I don't know if you ever got the answer about the "coffee, tea, or me" song, but I saw a song on a Boy Scouts song website that listed a song "If I was not a scout, what would I be?" Maybe that's was you are looking for.

Casper

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: clueless don
Date: 16 Apr 04 - 12:30 PM

I remember a version of the "If I were not a [fill in the blank], then something else I'd be..." song appearing in a Monty Python sketch!

I used to sing "Rise up, oh flame!" when I was in a madrigal singing group (perhaps it was more properly "madrigals et al.") I probably have the words somewhere, but I don't know how soon I can dig them up.

Don

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Apr 04 - 03:02 PM

Sad how songs get lost over time, isn't it. As a very recent girl guide, the only songs mentioned here that I've sung are "Kumbaya" (with hand motions) and "Land of the Silver Birch" - always a favourite.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Zulu Warrior
Date: 16 Apr 04 - 03:30 PM

I was a brownie in the 50s in Hertfordshire - the only song I recognise so far (apart from Kumbaya which we never sang) is the Zulu one, but I never heard it until I moved to South Wales 10 years ago, and here it is a Rugby/Drinking song:

Hold him down, Zulu Warrior
Hold him down, Zulu Chief

while everyone chants "Chief, Chief Chief" someone stands on a table with a pint balanced on their head and they have to take off all their clothes and not spill a drop....a friend tells me that he got thrown out of a pub for doing this...

Brownies was never as much fun as Rugby

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: clueless don
Date: 16 Apr 04 - 04:07 PM

I thought I had read this thread pretty carefully, but I now see that the words to "Rise up, Oh flame" were posted above by Burke on 08 Oct 03 - 10:18 PM. The tune given at the site linked in Burke's post sounds close to, but not exactly the same as, the tune I remember, so I will still try to get around to looking it up.

Don

Subject: ADD: Brownie Smile Song
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 01:48 AM

My wife was humming her way through the Girl Scout Pocket Songbook this evening, so I hummed a Girl Scout song back at her. She identified it as "Father's Whiskers." She was close, but not quite the song I was thinking of. Here it is:

Brownie Smile Song
(words and music by Harriet F. Heywood)

I've something in my pocket,
It belongs across my face;
And I keep it very close at hand
In a most convenient place.

I'm sure you couldn't guess it
If you guessed a long, long while,
So I'll take it out and put it on -
It's a great big Brownie smile!

from: Still Singing After All These Years: A Commenorative Songbook Presented by the Mid-Atlantic Girl Scout Councils (1977)

---

Click to play

Note that this is a regional book - I didn't find it in any of the national or international Girl Scout songbooks (see index - click).

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 09:33 AM

I was a Brownie in the late 1950s Atlantic City New Jersey.

Although we weren't really Girl Scouts yet, I remember the troup singing this song:

Girl Scouts together,
that is our song.
Winding the old trails
rocky and long
Learning our motto,
living our creed.
Girl Scouts together
in every good deed.

Is this song familiar to anyone else?

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 12:36 PM

This rhyme was recited by an African American Girl Scout group as they marched in Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania's Black Heritage Day parade [2004]. So it's not really an "old Girl Scout song" or a song at all, but I thought it might still be appropriate to post it in this thread.


Caller: Every we go
Group   Every we go
Caller: People want to know
Group: People want to know
Caller: who we are.
Group: who we are
Caller: So we tell them-
Group: So we tell them-
Caller: We are the Girl Scouts!
Group: We are the Girl Scouts!
Caller: Mighty, mighty Girl Scouts!
Group: Mighty, mighty Girl Scouts!

-snip-

It probably is impossible to find out when groups began using this, but I think it was originally a call & response cheerleader chant.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: clueless don
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 12:54 PM

I don't know if this is an "old" girl scout song, but my daughter's Brownie troop learned it from an official in our local council. I have the impression that she (i.e. the official) learned it in her girlhood. She insists on calling it "The Alligator Song", though you will see that it never mentions alligators. Here it is (with the possibility of a few mis-remembered words):

She sailed away, on a sunny summer's day,
on the back of a crocodile.

"You see", said she, "he's as tame as tame can be",
"I'll ride him down the Nile".

The croc winked his eye, as she waved her friends goodbye,
wearing a happy smile.

At the end of her ride, the lady was inside,
and the smile was on the crocodile.


Don

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Susan of DT
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 09:46 PM

I know the brownie/Girl Scout smile (with hand motions) and Girl Scouts Together. Guess I forgot them when entering the first batch of girl scout songs.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Melani
Date: 19 Apr 05 - 05:48 PM

I believe "Girl Scouts Together" was written in 1941 and won some kind of contest. I will have to look it up.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: NH Dave
Date: 19 Apr 05 - 11:48 PM

This seems to be many of the verses originally requested.

[Tune: This is the Music Concert]

    * Now I'm a [Boy/Girl] Scout, as you can plainly see.
    * But if I weren't a [Boy/Girl] Scout, ...

   1. A bird watcher I'd be
      Hark a lark, flying through the park, SPLAT!
   2. A plumber I would be
      Plunge it, flush it, look out below!
   3. A mermaid I would be
      Bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop!
   4. A carpenter I'd be
      Two by four, nail it to the floor!

   5. A secretary I'd be
      z-z-z-z get the point, z-z-z-z get the point?
   6. A teacher I would be
      Sit down, shut up, throw away your gum!
   7. An airline attendant I'd be
      Coffee, tea, or me, sir; here's your little bag, BLEH!
   8. A typist I would be
      Ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ZING!
   9. A hippie I would be
      Love and peace, my hair is full of grease!
10. A farmer I would be
      Here's a cow, there's a cow, and here's another yuck!
11. A laundry worker I would be
      Starchy here, starchy there, starchy in your underwear!
12. A cashier I would be
      Twenty nine, forty nine, here is your change, sir!
13. A gym teacher I'd be
      We must, we must, improve the bust!
14. A medic I would be
      Turn around, drop your pants, jab, jab, jab!
15. A doctor I would be
      Take a pill; pay my bill! I'm going golfing!
16. An electrician I would be
      Positive, negative; turn on the juice--ZZZT!
17. A fireman I would be
      Jump lady! Jump lady! Whoo-ooah! GOTCHA!
18. A cook I would be
      Mix it, bake it; heartburn--BURP!
19. A ice cream maker I'd be
      Tutti-frutti, tutti-fruitti, nice ice cream!
20. A politician I would be
      Raise the taxes, lower the pay, vote for me on election day!
21. A butcher I would be
      Chop it up, grind it up, make a little patty!
22. A garbage collector I'd be
      Lift it, dump it, sort out the goodies!
23. A [Domino's] pizza maker I'd be
      30 minute, fast delivery!
24. A clam digger I would be
      Dig one here, dig one there--Oh my frozen derriere!
25. Superman I would be
      It's a bird, it's a plane, where is Lois Lane?
26. Lois Lane I would be
      Get away, get away, get away, Clark Kent!
27. A cyclist I would be
      peddle, peddle, peddle, peddle; ring, ring, ring!
28. A truck driver I'd be
      Here's a curve, there's a curve. HERE'S A BETTER CURVE! [Makes outline of shapely woman.]
29. A house cleaner I'd be
      Ooh, a bug; squish it in the rug!
30. A baby [toddler] I would be
      Mama, Dada, I wuv you!
31. A Preacher I would be
      Well, well, you never can tell; you might go to heaven, or you might go to hell!

Finally: A [Opposite organization] Scout I would be!

Dave

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 20 Apr 05 - 06:54 AM

I remember one I used to sing that started off...
Land of the Silver Birch, Home of the beaver
Where still the mighty moose, wanders at will,
Blue Lake and Rocky shore,
I will return once more,
Boomdidlyidi, boomdidlyidi, boomdidlyidi, boom...

Can't remember the rest though....any ideas?

Subject: RE: lyric add: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: itsRena
Date: 08 Feb 06 - 08:09 PM

just want to say that finding this site a few weeks ago was a true thrill! I just signed up as a memberAnd you all have been very helpfull with song research that I'm doing. I'm not a girl scout but a 1960's campfire girl from Camp Nawakwa in so.Cal. As a [I went by 'Sam'] campfire girl I just want to say that I see that we all love & sing many of the same songs.

One of my favorites is what I remember calling 'Above a Plain' someone in this thread I believe it is called, mentioned it but can't remember who. . .
Here is how I sing it:

Above a a plain of golden and green
a young boy's head is planly seen

Awh, who-yah-who-yah-who-yah-yah
swiftly flowing water
Awh, who-yah-who-yah-who-yah-yah
swiftly flowing water (la-beh-e)sp?

But notice not his lifted head
'tis Ifka's castle spire instead

Awh, who-yah-who-yah-who-yah-yah
swiftly flowing water
Awh, who-yah-who-yah-who-yah-yah
swiftly flowing water (la-beh-e)sp?

---I sing it in rounds---

Also,
I've not seen mentioned. . .

'Ho! Young Rider'

Here is how I sing this one:

Ho! young Rider apple-cheeked one
wither riding?
on your sted so black and prancing
wither riding?
what matters where I ride
slovoc mountians are my pride

dusa moja, dusa moja

I just repeat it over and over and over. . .

I really would love it if anyone knows any other verses or info on where these originally come from, or author or anything. ..

Thanks in advance
glad to be abord!
rena

---

Apple-Cheeked Rider

Above a Plain

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,WOL
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 10:54 AM

Hi Rena,
I learned "Ho,Young Rider" just as you did, except in the Girl Scouts. A friend of mine who is expert in Europeon songs found another verse. The two are arranged differently & go like this: Ho, young rider, apple-cheeked on, whither riding? On your steed so fine & prancing whither riding? What matters where I ride? Slovak mountains are my pride   Dusa moja
Ho, young rider, apple-cheeked one Whither riding? On your steed, so black & handsome. Whither riding? What matters where I roam? Slovak mountains are my home. Dusa moja, dusa moja. Hey!

He said dusa moja translates to "my love". The words seem to be Slovak. The tune dates to around 1607 & is the same family as "Hey Ho Nobody Home". So the tune is about 400 years old. I arrange the verses however I like, with the first verse as we learned it.
I hope this is helpful.
Best regards, WOL

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 08:23 AM

Clueless Don-

Just in case you're checking in after a year, the fragment about the lady riding the crocodile down the Nile seems to follow the same basic plot as the more well known limerick "The Lady from Niger" who ending up inside a tiger, which don't exist in Niger (unless there is a zoo there) but not to worry it's the message that's important.

Apparently Tom Lehrer never penned an affirmative action ditty to his imfamous "Be Prepared" the boyscounts' marching song.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: clueless don
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 11:22 AM

Thanks Charley! I had never heard of a limerick called "The Lady from Niger", but I have led rather a sheltered life, I suppose.

I just googled it, and it isn't one I had ever heard before. Thanks for adding to my education!

Don

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 01:10 PM

Don-

Now you are Les' Clueless!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 11:16 PM

Read this thread while getting ready to teach a lesson on water for Scouts at day camp.   Looking for "Peace, I ask of thee o river", and found this treasure. Now I am really in the mood for camp with Brownies tomorrow.   One of my favorites was a call and response...The other day, the other day, I saw a bear, I saw a bear, out in the woods, away out there.   A lot of other adventures happened to the bear...who knows the rest?    Kelly

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Scoville
Date: 27 Jun 06 - 12:21 PM

My mother still has her Girl Scout songbooks and occasionally will mention something she learned when she was in scouts, but the only one she sings on a regular basis is "Amazing Grace" to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun", which she learned from some girls from New Orleans at a gathering in Wyoming in 1965. I've seen that mentioned before. Try it. It's weird the first couple of times and then it sounds perfectly normal.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Susan of DT
Date: 27 Jun 06 - 01:13 PM

Kelly - The other day I saw a bear is in the Digital Tradition as the other day I met a bear.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Jun 06 - 01:33 PM

When does a Cub Scout become a Boy Scout?

When he's old enough to eat a Brownie.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Really old scout
Date: 22 Jul 06 - 09:42 AM

Barges brought me to this site. The western PA Girl Scout camp songs (c. 1962) I'm looking for are:

Mandy

and

a song about two children lost in the woods.

Anybody remember these ballads?

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Cathie
Date: 22 Jul 06 - 09:58 AM

'The quarter masters stores' was a favourite British song.

There was Jenny Jenny,
dying to spend a penny
in the stores, in the stores,
There was Jenny Jenny,
dying to spend a penny
in the quarter master's stores.

My eyes are dim,I cannot see,
I have not brought my specs with me
I have not brought my specs with me.

There was Mary, Mary,
looking very hairy
in the stores etc etc

Active song writing round the camp fire.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Anne Lister
Date: 22 Jul 06 - 06:06 PM

Don't know about Mandy, but the two children in the woods - is that Babes in the Wood? ("Pretty babes in the wood, oh don't you remember the babes in the wood").

Anne

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Susan of DT
Date: 23 Jul 06 - 07:51 AM

Really Old Scout

Both Mandy Was a Little Bahama Girl and Babes in the Wood are in the Digital Tradition. Use the lyric seach box at the top of the page.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Nana (camp name) Washington State
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 02:16 AM

Clueless Don-
The lyrics to the song 'The Crocodile' go like this:
She sailed away on a sunny, summer day on the back of a Crocodile.
"You can see," said she, "He's as tame as he can be, I'll ride him down the Nile." The Croc winked his eye as she waved them all good-bye, waring a happy smile. At the end of the ride, the lady was inside and the smile was on the Crocodile.
It can be found in a little Girl Scout song book entitled; Melinda Caroll Presents Girl Scouts Greatest Hits, Pocket Songbook of Vol's 1-6 and A World of Peace (2003) This little puppy has many of the songs mentioned in this thread.

Sondra

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Mandy
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 01:32 PM

The Browny Smile Song By Harriet F. Haywood has been around a long time. Does anyone know how ong? What Year was it forst uded by the Girl Scouts?

Mandy

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Genie
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 08:41 PM

Actually, I didn't realize there was such thing as an "old Girl Scout." I thought the upper age limit was, like, 18 or something.

Genie

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: open mike
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 10:32 PM

old girl scouts just want more comforts while camping!

I just got a girl scout song book from my cousin who
is going thru her deceased mother's posessions. This
little book is called "Scoutenanny!" and was printed in
Illinois..probably in the '60's I see no date in it.

It has 64 pages, with songs from A-Jogging along
(Hi, Come along Jim along Josie, Hi come along jim along Joe)\
to Zum Gali Gali--including Waltzing Matilda, White Coral Bells,

It makes me regret not singing more to my children as they were
growing up.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,idebbi
Date: 20 Apr 08 - 11:32 PM

when i was in girl scouts in the early 60's all the CITs (counselors-in-training)and counselors at camp sugar pine in the calif sierras had small binders where we wrote the words to each camp song we knew....those with guitar skills also recorded the chords to accompany the songs....my binder was bulging....the covers splayed outwards....it was probably 5 inches thick....i treasured that book!!....alas....when my own kids were in scouts i loaned it to another scout mother who wanted to start a song fest....the last i heard of it, she left it on a table in a park....it was never seen again....sigh....

wouldn't i love to have it today for responding to requests on this site....instead of relying on my 60+ yr old memory....

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Melissa
Date: 20 Apr 08 - 11:36 PM

It's good to have another scout around!

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Bettynh
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 07:56 AM

This always felt like part of a song:

Where does the wind come from, does anybody know?
Where does the wind come from before (s)he starts to blow?
On Saturday night where does (s)he hang his(her) hat?
Does anybody know where the wind is at?
Where does the wind come from, does anybody know-o-o-oo-o-o

The gender of the wind was a point of discussion. We were Girl Scouts. ;-)

Usually we'd immediately follow with "Desert's Silvery Blue" (discussed here) which has a very similar tune.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 07:17 AM

mandy was a bahama girl

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 05:11 PM

i didnt know it as a girl scout song. we did it in a church group.
'if i were not a mennonite i know just what i'd be, if i were not a mennonite a stewardess i'd be crying: coffee sir, tea sir, have a paper bag blech.
next person: chicken farmer crying: pluck a chicken, pluck a chicken, wring its scrawny neck hehe
Icecream scooper: ooshy gooshy ooshy gooshy good ice cream -slurp-
baby doll: hi mommy, hi daddy, i love you -razzbery noise-
farmers wife: c'mom bessie give, the baby's gotta live

by the end each person is doing their chant all at once

very funny
i know there are more verses, but thats all i can remember, thats why i was looking for the same song--hopeing someone knew more of it

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Oct 11 - 11:06 PM

A friend was singing the most beautiful song tonight while we looked at the moon - it told the story of one person speaking to another about their love. at the end the "narrator" had given his/her heart to the other, who now had two hearts. it was maybe 3 verses long. my friend announced that it was an old girl scouts song from the 1950s. i suppose i could ask him what it was called, but i wanted to see if i could locate it myself. i am having no luck....

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Ole Gal
Date: 09 Feb 12 - 11:34 AM

Does your (chewn(choon)(chung) gum lose it's flavor on the bedpost every night
If you chew it in the mornining will it be too hard to bite
Can't you see I'm going crazy
Won't somebody set me right
Does your chewn gum lose it's flavor on the bedpost every night.

A girl scout song yes;two people, and the thing was to sing it immediately and faster each following try. The last one to sing it without making a mistake was the winner

WWII Girl Scout

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Hope Page
Date: 13 Apr 12 - 07:30 PM

Debbie: I was a camper at Camp Sugar Pine in the mid 50s. Do you remember a song we used to sing each night.
Goodnight Camp Sugar Pine
The sun sets in the West
This third line I can't remember and it's driving me crazy.
Each bird is in its nest.

Goodnight Camp Sugar Pine
The sky with stars is bright.
The watch they'll keep while we're asleep
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.

If you can remember that third line, I would be ever so grateful.
Thanks.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: olddude
Date: 13 Apr 12 - 08:41 PM

how about black socks they never get dirty the longer you wear them the blacker they get

someday, maybe I'll wash them but somehow I think that I won't do it yet ...

remember that one, it is a girl scout song

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Sierra
Date: 19 Aug 13 - 12:55 AM

I just found this site while looking up the words to the CAMP SUGAR PINE SONG for a friend.

The 3rd line is:

"The squirrels keep their rest in sleep" (Each bird is in his nest)

If you are all still interested, I have volumes of Girl Scout camp songs.   I went to camp every year, then was a counselor, studied music and became a music teacher.   I actually used many old Girl Scout songs for my school choirs!

This site brought back many great memories!

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Haruo
Date: 22 Aug 13 - 01:02 AM

If you feel like typing them in, type away! Someone is almost always interested in such stuff hereabouts.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,katie
Date: 28 Oct 13 - 01:13 PM

I am looking for an old Girl Scout song we sang in the mid 50s. It was from the 23rd Psalm and song in harmony. I can't find it anywhere. Any suggestions?

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Bettynh
Date: 28 Oct 13 - 02:31 PM

Welcome to Mudcat, Katie. Here's hoping you join us.

Joe Offer listed this in his index of Sing Together, A Girl Scout Songbook. (Click on the blue underlined words to see it). I found that by searching Mudcat (in the search box at the top of the messages list for the lyrics "lord's my shepherd").

You can buy a used copy of that book for less than $20 at Amazon. Just be sure you order the 1973 version.

Youtube has many versions of this song. The tune I remember best is here. but the words are a bit fuzzy. Is this the tune you're looking for?

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Cricket
Date: 04 Dec 13 - 11:45 PM

Joe, how wonderful that someone else remembers the Brownie Smile Song! I was a Brownie in the early sixties and stayed in Girl Scouts through Senior Girl Scouts. The Brownies in Michigan certainly knew that song and sang it a lot. It's so wonderful to connect with other people who love these songs.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Haruo
Date: 05 Dec 13 - 02:14 PM

I read Cricket's post to Mrs. Haruo and she burst into song, then repeated it with hand motions, meanwhile rolling her eyes...

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Lightn'n of Camp Whispering Pines near Naco
Date: 14 Apr 14 - 11:58 AM

One of your guests mentions a beautiful piece sung in the moonlight. I once had an old GS pocket songbook unearthed in a church closet in about 1967 that had the words and music, but I lost it. I think it might have been originally in Italian, but don't remember for sure. It starts out
"The silver moon is shining .......outside my ...window
..something about "when you're not with me"
it had a haunting melody, the English words didn't rhyme that well, so I think it was a translation after all. I have been wishing to find that song again. There are so many that filled my life as I wore my mom's GS pin and was involved from Brownies in the 50's to post HS as a camp counselor in '67 and '68. 'Married in 1970 and finally had a daughter in 1978 to pass her grandmother's pin to (after a couple of boys). During the last couple of years of my mom's 89 years, she would ask me to "google" songs for her. Her favorite seemed to be Walk, Shepherdess Walk, which makes sense. I think it was written in the 30's. I called one morning to tell her I'd be visiting her within the hour (I work nights) and she said "Please don't plan on 'cleaning' my apartment. She was so afraid I'd throw away her stuff. I told her no, I'm bringing my guitar and we're singing GS songs. She was the happiest I had seen her in a long time. We are going to take her ashes to Hawaii this month since the happiest years of her life were her early childhood in Honolulu from about 1926-1933

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,GUEST. Great Blue Heron Council
Date: 16 Apr 14 - 02:15 PM

I was in Girl Scouts in the mid 60's early 70's. Does anyone remember a dance where two girls knelt each holding the end of a long stick (approximately 6 feet long) that held horizontally, close to the floor, about 18" apart? The sticks were rapped twice on the floor and then brought together about 3" off of the floor. The "dancer" would dance between the sticks when they were rapped on the floor, and then out when the sticks were brought together.
We also sat on the floor, and using shorter sticks, singing the same rhythmical songs, played a kind of "patty-cake".
Does anyone remember this, and can you tell me where to get more info?
Thanks

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Theresa - Nassau Council of Girl Scouts
Date: 24 Sep 14 - 12:06 PM

The little sticks are Lemmi Sticks (or Lummi sticks, depending on which camp you went to). The bigger sticks are a Filipino folk dance done to anything with a good 3/4 beat.

Most of the songs everyone is talking about are still being sung, because we pass down what we know to younger Girl Scouts. Yes, Old Girl Scouts (those 18 and up) do sit and sing around fires, even into our 90's.

The thing to do is go to GirlScouts.org and use the Council Finder, or call 411, and tell your local council you want to volunteer, especially in outdoor programming. While teaching girls and adults to enjoy outdoor activities, you can be teaching and sharing songs, and be sure to build a campfire at night.

If camp isn't your thing, volunteer anyway and tell the member services director you want to sing--there are probably in-town workshops. We've even sung around a single log wrapped in Christmas lights.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Mar 15 - 02:51 PM

Girl Scout Camp Marapai, Prescott AZ. in the 50s Trying to find the song where we went on a pretend hike walking through the meadow, I think there was a tree, a lake and a bear and you would start out slow slapping your thighs with your hands, almost like marching through the woods, then it got a little faster but then you would have to run back real fast repeating everything you did like climbing the tree etc, til you got home. Anyone have a clue what I mean Coral Bells and Make New Friends were also my favorites. Gosh I miss those days.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,#
Date: 18 Mar 15 - 02:54 PM

http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/imetabear.html

Is that it, Guest?

Subject: ADD: Going on a Bear Hunt
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Mar 15 - 03:02 AM

I think the bear song requested is Goin' on a Bear Hunt. I've never heard two people sing this the same. Heck, I don't think I've ever sung it the same way twice myself. Once you have the general idea, make it up as you go along.
-Joe-

GOING ON A BEAR HUNT

(Leader)
We're going on a bear hunt!
(Group)
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
Not me!
Here comes the gate
" " (Group Echos)
Now we're on a bear hunt " "
We're gonna catch a big one " "
I'm not afraid " "
Are you? " " Not me! " "
We're coming to a tall mountain " "
It sure is high " "
It sure is wide " "
Let's climb up it " "
Well, there's nothing over there " "
Nothing over there " "
Nothing back there " "
Hey! Wait! I think I see something
Quick! Everybody run down!

We're going on a bear hunt!
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
Not me!
We're going thru the tall grass " "
We're going thru the short grass " "
Hey! Look! There's a little tree " "
Well, let's shinny on up it
Whoa! It gets a little skinny up here at the top
See anything over that way? " "
Anything over that way?, Uh, oh!,
Oh, no! Whoa! Agh! let's get down!

We're going on a bear hunt!
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
Not me!
Oh, no! " "
It's a big puddle of mud " "
Can't go around it " "
Gotta go right thru it " "
Yeuk! " "
Well, let's go.
Squish, Sqwish, Blaaahh.

We're going on a bear hunt!
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
Not me!
We're coming to a wide river " "
And there's no bridge going over it " "
No tunnel going under it " "
It's just plain old water " "
And we're gonna have to swim " "
All right, dive in!
Start swimming
Do the back stroke
Do the side stroke
Do the doggie paddle
Try the little cat paddle
OK Jump out, shake yourself off

We're going on a bear hunt!
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
Not me!
Shhh, it's a cave " "
Looks like the kind of cave that B-bears live in " "
I don't know if I want to go in there
You think we oughta go in?
Are you nuts?
There's probably a bear in there
All right I'll go in, You stay here,
And if I find a bear, I'll come out and get you
And we'll all go in and grab him together
Now, quiet, don't make a sound while I'm in that cave,
Cuz if you wake him up, I'll be in trouble
Bears are awful ornery when they first wake up, you know
OK, I'm going on in
Oooo, It's dark in here
It's really dark in here
I can't see a thing
Agh, there's spiders webs
Ooo, what was that???
What's this??.... it's soft, uh oh,it's kind of fuzzy
Ahg!!!!!!!!! Run! Everybody run!!
I saw a bear!!!!
Jump in the water! Swim fast!!
Do the backstroke!
The sidestroke, the doggie paddle
Jump out of the water
Run through the mud!
Forget the tree!!
Go through the tall grass
The short grass
Quick! Go up the mountain
Down the other side
Go thru the gate
Into the house, under the bed
Under the pillow
Hide!!!!!
Uh, it's awful quiet around here
I'm not afraid
I'm not afraid
Are you?
Are you?

3/18/2015 The Bear Hunt Words & Lyrics
http://www.timmyabell.com/music/lyrics/ol/bearhunt.htm 2/4

...and another...

Goin' On a Lion Hunt
Audience echoes each line and sets up clap/lap-slapping rhythm.
Goin' on a lion hunt.
Goin to catch a big one.
I'm not afraid.
Look, what's up ahead?
Mud!
Can't go over it.
Can't go under it.
Can't go around it.
Gotta go through it. [Make sloshing sounds and move hands as if slogging.]

Following verses:
Sticks. [Snap fingers.]
Tree. [Make gestures climbing up and down.]
Gate. [Make gate-opening gestures.]
River. [Make swimming gestures.]
Cave. [Go in it and find lion. Reverse all motions quickly to get home.

http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/going-on-a-lion-hunt.html

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Nov 15 - 02:01 PM

I came across this YouTube channel in my search for recordings of "The Wonderful Crocodile." They don't have the wonderful one, but they do have a good crocodile song. Lots of good performances of Girl Scout songs here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm3rne7YR7nZ3f0L_O-bDSA

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 13 May 17 - 04:35 PM

White wings, they never grow weary, they carry me (word I can't remember here) over the sea.
Night comes I long for my deary I spread out my white wings and sail home to thee.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,judith Malone
Date: 14 Jul 17 - 11:55 AM

Does anyone have music and lyrics to a song we learned for the 1966 ( i think that the date) Roundup in Coeur D'Alene.

Look wider still

When you think you are looking wide,
Look wider still.
Behold the world that lies outside
Your windowsill.

email to: [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Mary Ann
Date: 08 Aug 18 - 02:51 PM

Hope someone can recite more of this old Girl Scout song: O' re the open road we plod along, scouts are we, scouts are we. May Saqualajia hear our song, scouts are we.
... and I wonder who Saqualajia was??

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: Haruo
Date: 09 Aug 18 - 12:33 AM

Sounds like a misspelling/mispronunciation of the name of the Shoshone woman, usually spelled more like Sacajawea or Sakakawea and pronounced like "sack o' juh-we’-uh", who helped guide the Lewis and Clark Expedition across the Rocky Mountains can. 1804.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 11 Aug 18 - 05:02 PM

Just want to point out, from my childhood at Girl Scout Camp,
that we sang the 'Donkey Riding' song
which has its own Mudcat thread.

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Ebor Fiddler
Date: 11 Aug 18 - 06:28 PM

In reverse- I've just posted in that very thread how I learned the song before I was five, at Girl Guide camps in England. I was not an official member of course as I don't have the requisite number of ovaries (ie, none). I still sing it some years later, with additional verses.
I was later a Boy Scout, before shorts were abolished and the organisation became a middle class baby-sitting service, and they never sang the good stuff that the girls sang. The love of singing which I got from camping with my mum's Guides never left me, which accounts for my dive into Folk Clubs when I left school and most of my life until now. Go Girls and sing!

Subject: RE: Old Girl Scout Songs
From: GUEST,Mara Alverson
Date: 10 Aug 22 - 10:34 PM

Does anyone remember the Southern Region Song from the 50's or 60's ? Here's what I remember. Would love to have the rest of the words:

Where the old Mississippi winds its lazy way
White, hot cotton balls a poppin’ on a hot bright day

Land of rich tradition, echoes of the past
Brightening the modern age


No matter where you go, no matter what you do
You can’t escape that spirit cause it catches you
And you’re caught, and you’re held
By the song that is the South