More Songs for Scouts to Sing

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One Tin Soldier

Listen children to a story that was written long ago,
Of a kingdom on a mountain and the valley far below,
On the mountain was a treasure buried deep beneath a stone,
And the valley people swore they'd have it for their very own.

Chorus

Go ahead and hate your neighbour, go ahead and cheat a friend,
Do it in the name of heaven, you can justify it in the end,
There won't be any trumpets blowing come judgement day,
On the bloody morning after, one tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley sent a message up the hill.
Asking for the buried treasure, loads of gold for which they'd kill.
Came an answer from the kingdom, "With our brothers we will share,
All the riches of our mountain, all the riches buried there."

Now the valley cried with anger, mount your horses draw your swords,
And they killed the mountain people, so they won their just reward,
Now they stood beside their treasure, on the mountain dark and dread,
Turned the stone and looked beneath it.
"Peace On Earth" was all it said.

Peace

Peace, I ask of thee, O River; peace, peace, peace,
When I learn to live serenly, cares will cease,
From the hills I gather courage,
Visions of the day to be,
Strength to lead and faith to follow,
All are given unto me,
Peace, I ask of thee, O River; peace, peace, peace,

Rainbow Children

Chorus:

We're a rainbow made of children,
We're an army singing our song.
There's no weapon that can stop us,
Rainbow love is much too strong.

I was born south of the border
Saying "Yes sir" to every man,
But I found it got me nowhere
So I'll never say it again.

I was taught that black meant evil,
I was taught that white meant good.
But when you become a rainbow,
All the colors are understood.

It's not the winning that's important,
But it's how you play the game.
But that's not how some folks see it,
And that's not how peace is made.

Now the rainbow's all kinds of people,
Walking together hand in hand.
At the end of the rainbow
May there be peace throughout the land.

Red Balloon

Give me a red balloon on a long black string,
I can whistle and I can sing,
With my red balloon on a long black string,
I am richer than any king.

Chorus:

Laughs are many and tears are few,
Life's exciting and always new,
In a world of girls and boys,
In a world of simple joys.

Give me a paper kite on a windy day,
Oh I think I'll fly away,
With my paper kite on a windy day,
I'll come back another day.

Give me a warm spring day and an apple tree,
There is nothing that I can't see,
From my look out in the apple tree,
I'll see you and you'll see me.

Give me a jar of bubbles and a real good friend,
How I wish this day won't end
With my jar of bubbles and a real good friend,
Oh I hope this day won't end.

River

-- Bill Staines

I was born in the path of the winter wind
And raised where the mountains are old,
The springtime waters came dancing down,
I remember the tales they told.

The whistling ways of my younger days,
Too quickly have faded on by.
But all of their memories linger on,
Like the light in a fading sky.

Chorus:

River, take me along
In your sunshine, sing me your song,
Ever moving and winding and free.
You rolling old river, you changing old river,
Let's me and you river run down to the sea.

I've been to the city and back again,
I've been moved by some things that I've learned.
Met a lot of good people and I called them friends,
Felt the change when the seasons turned.

I heard all the songs that the children sing,
And listened to love's melodies.
I've felt my own music within me rise,
Like the wind in the autumn trees.

Someday when the flowers are blooming still,
Someday when the grass is still green,
My rolling water will round me bend,
And flow to the open sea.

So, here's to the rainbow that followed me here,
And here's to the friends that I know,
And here's to the song that's within me now,
I will sing it where'er I go.

Running Bear

Chorus:

Running bear loves Little White Dove with a love as big as the sky.
Running bear loves Little White Dove with a love that couldn't die.

On the one side of the river stood Running Bear, an Indian brave.
On the other side of the river stood a lovely Indian maid.
Little White Dove was her name and lovely maid was she,
By their tribes fought with each other so their love could never be.

They couldn't cross the raging river, because the river was too wide.
He couldn't reach his Little White Dove waiting on the other side.
In the moonlight he could see her blowing kisses cross the waves.
Her little heart was beating faster waiting for her hansom brave.

Running Bear jumped into the water, Little White Dove did the same.
And they swam out to each other, through the swirling waters they came.
And their hands touched and their lips met,
The raging waters pulled them down
Now they'll always be together in that happy hunting ground.

Somos El Barco

Chorus:

Somos el barco, somos el mar,
Yo navego en tí, tu navegas en mí,
We are the boat, we are the sea,
I sail in you, you sail in me.

The stream sings it to the river, the river sings it to the sea,
The sea sings it to the boat that carries you and me.

Now the boat we are sailing in was built by many hands,
And the sea we are sailing on, it touches many sands.

Oh the voyage has been long and hard and yet we're sailing still,
With a song to help us pull together, if we only will.

So with our hopes we raise the sails to face the winds once more,
And with our hearts we chart the waters never sailed before.

Under One Sky

-- Ruth Pelham

We're all a family under one sky
We're a family under one sky [Repeat]

We're people * we're animals *
We're flowers * and we're birds in flight *
Well, we're people * we're animals *
We're flowers * and we're birds in flight *
[* = echo]
plumbers/doctors/farmers and we're teachers too
And we're artists/electricians/waitresses and we're astronauts
sisters/brothers/friends and neighbors too
grandmas/grandpas/grandchildren and we're parents too
lions/puppies/kittycats and we're horses too
cows/sheep/snakes and we're pigs [make the sounds]
happy/angry/frightened and we're tender too
sad/curious/embarassed and we're really excited! [mimic the feelings]
Americans/Russians/Ethiopians and Vietnamese
Israelis/Palestinians/Nicaraguans and we're Chinese

Walk With Me

Chorus:

Walk with me and talk with me and say you'll be my friend.
Together, we'll work out a harmony,
On a road that will never end.

Although our roads are different,
Just watch as they converge.
We've got a job to do together now,
And our song it must be heard.

Sisters for the summer,
That's what the children say,
But little do they know when they go away,
Our friendship will never fade.

And when you're down, I'll build you up,
And when you're up, I'll laugh with you,
And Together we will find the piece of mind,
That only true friends can find.

Weave

Chorus:

Weave, weave, weave us together,
Weave us together in unity and love.
Weave, weave, weave us together,
Weave us together, together in love.

We are many textures, we are many colors,
Each one different from the others.
But we are all woven together in one great tapestry.

We are many instruments playing different melodies,
We are not listening to one another.
But we are all playing in harmony in one great symphony.

We're Glad to See You Here

[Tune: The Farmer in the Dell]

We're glad to see you here,
It gives us joy and cheer,
Sure, it's true, we say to you,
We're glad to see you here.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

-- New words by Cathy Winter, Betsy Rose & Marcia Taylor

I was singing with my sisters, I was singing with my friends,
And we all can sing together, 'cause the circle never ends.

Chorus:

Will the circle be unbroken, by & by Lord by & by,
There's a better way to live now, we can have it if we try.

I was born down in the valley where the sun refused to shine,
But I'm climbing up to the highland, gonna make that mountain mine!

3 NATIONAL ANTHEM

The Star-Spangled Banner

-- Francis Scott Key

Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so galantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner; oh, long may it wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country shall leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
From the terrors of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their loved ones and wild war's desolation,
Blest with victr'y and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land,
Praise the pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Francis Scott Key was an lawyer in Washington D.C. at the time of the War of 1812. He received permission from President James Madison to ask the British to release his friend, Dr. William Beanes, who had been taken prisoner. On September 13, 1814, Key was rowed out to a British ship in Baltimore Harbor to secure the release. The request was granted, but Key was detained onboard overnight as a precaution against his warning the garrison of Fort McHenry of the attack the British were about to make.

During the night, Key witnessed the attack from the deck of the British ship. The hours passed slowly as he anxiously waited for dawn. When the sun finally rose, the sky was gray with low-hung clouds and patches of mist. But as the day grew brighter, Key was able to make out the enormous American Flag¹ still flying over the fort, showing that it had not surrendered. Key's exhilaration at the sight began to take poetic shape; using the back of a letter he pulled from his pocket, he jotted down a few lines and phrases.

When the British withdrew and the Americans had returned to Baltimore, Key added to his lines and entitled the poem "The Defense of Fort McHenry". Shortly afterward he conceived of it being sung to a popular tune of the period, called "To Anacreon From Heaven"; this was the tune we know today as "The Star Spangled Banner".

The song immediately caught on in Baltimore; the Fort McHenry garrison adopted it, and the local newspapers published it. As rest of the nation began to realize the significance of the events at Fort McHenry, people in other cities began putting Francis Scott Key's words to the tune.

Contenders for the status of national anthem included such rivals as "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean". "The Star Spangled Banner" eventually prevailed and was made the official national anthem of the United States by an Act of Congress in 1931.

¹The flag that flew over Fort McHenry was originally 42 feet long. Each stripe was nearly two feet wide, and the five-pointed stars were two feet from point to point. Tattered and marred by relic-seekers, it is now preserved at the Smithsonian Museum of History and Technology in Washington, D.C.

4 ROUNDS AND PART SONGS

Bottle of Pop

One bottle of pop, two bottles of pop,
Three bottles of pop, four bottles of pop,
Five bottles of pop, six bottles of pop,
Seven, seven, bottles of pop, pop!

Fish and chips and vinegar, vinegar, vinegar
Fish and chips and vinegar,
Pepper, pepper, pepper, salt!

Don't throw your trash in my backyard,
My backyard, my backyard.
Don't throw your trash in my backyard,
My backyard's full!

Darling Oh My Love

Darling, won't you wait, won't you wait, won't you wait,
For I must go far away.
Darling, won't you wait, won't you wait, won't you wait,
'Til I come back home to stay.
Should another love come along, come along
Simply say that you're not free.
Send her on her way, on her way, on her way,
Darling won't you wait for me.

Oh, my love, some of us they say are bound to die,
Oh, my love, how it breaks my heart to say goodbye,
Oh, my love, when I'm far away I miss you so,
Hold me close, kiss me once again before I go.

Early As I Me Walked

Early as I me walk-ed
Upon a may morning
I heard a bird sing

Fire's Burning

Fire's burning, fire's burning,
Draw nearing, draw nearer,
In the glowing, in the glowing,
Come sing and be merry.

Frogs in Yonder Pond

Hear the lively song of the frogs in yonder pond,
Krik, krik, krik, krik, krik, krik, brrr-r-r - rum!

Music Shall Live

All things shall perish from under the sky,
Music alone shall live [Repeat twice more.]
Never to die.

Danish: Himmel og Jord engång förgår, men musikanterne evig består.

French: Tour doit sur terre mourir un jour, mais la musique vive toujours.

German: Himmel und Erde müssen vergebn, aber die Musica bleibet bestehn.

Rise Up O Flame

Rise up O flame, by thy light glowing,
Show to us beauty, vision, and joy.

Swinging Along

Part 1:

Swinging along the open road
Under a sky that's clear
Swinging along the open road
In the fall of the year
Swinging along, swinging along,
Swinging along the open road
All in the fall of the year.

Part 2:

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,
Swinging along the open road
All in the fall of the year.

5 SILLY SONGS

All God's Critters

-- Bill Staines

Chorus:

All God's critters got a place in the choir,
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire,
And some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they got now.

Listen to the bass, it's the one on the bottom,
Where the bullfrog croaks and hippopotamus
Moans and groans with a big to-do,
The old cow just goes "moo."

The dogs and the cats, they take up the middle,
The honey bee hums and crickets fiddle,
The donkey brays and pony neighs,
And the old coyote howls.

Listen to the top where the little birds sing,
On the melody where the high notes ring,
The hoot owl hollers over everything,
And the jay bird disagrees.

Singing in the night time, singing in the day,
The little duck quacks and is on his way.
The possum ain't got much to say,
And the porcupine talks to himself.

It's a simple song of living sung everywhere,
By the ox and fox and grizzly bear,
The grumpy alligator and the hawk above,
The sly racoon and the morning dove.

Alvin the Alligator

-- Nick Thorkelson

Did you ever step on a water pipe,
Right down to the bottom of the water system,
There did you meet a little alligator,
Who answered to the name of Alvin 'cause he's mine.
I lost him!

I threw my Alvin down the water pipe,
Right down to the bottom of the water system,
'Cause he was getting too big for britches,
And now I'm feeling lonely 'cause he's gone.
I miss him!

America the Ugly

-- George Carlin

Oh beautiful for smoggy skies - insecticided grain
For stripminined mountains magesties, above the asphalt plains.
America, America! Man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs from sea to oily sea.

Austrian Climber

An old Austrian went climbing on mountain top high,
When along came an avalanche, interrupting his climb.

Chorus:

Oh, leerie ...
Holliaka, heerio-liake-roo ...[sound of "interruption"] [Repeat twice more]
Holliaka, heerio-Oh.

Avalanche ...{sound of snow sliding} "Chhhh"
Grizzly bear ..."Grrrr"
Saint Bernard ...{pant with tongue hanging out} "huh, huh"
Guernsey cow ...{sound of milking} "shupe, shupe"
Pretty girl ...{two kissing sounds}
The girls Papa ...{two shotgun blasts} "bang, bang"

Backyard Treasures

[Tune: Clementine]

In the backyard, there are treasures,
There are treasures all around,
If I look hard in my back yard,
All the treasures can be found.

Found some pine cones and an ant hill,
And a toad all squashed and dead.
I can hide them in my pocket,
And I'll keep them 'neath my bed.

Momma found them in my pocket,
So she yelled and screamed and cried.
"You can keep those rotten pine cones,
But can't keep the toad that died."

So I took them to the backyard,
To her flower bed to rest.
I'm so glad she didn't find that
Beetle hidden in her desk.

Banjo Song

I udaloosed to playdalay on mydalay banjodaloe,
But mydalay banjodaloe got brodalodalodaloke.
I toodalook it toodaloo the medalender's shoodalop,
But the medalender's shoodalop was clodalodalodalosed.
I toodalook it toodaloo anodalother shoodalop
To seedalay what theydalay could doodalodalodaloo.
They fidalixed the stridaling on mydalay banjodaloe,
And nowdalow it's goodalood as newdalodalodaloo.

Be Kind to Your Web-footed Friends

Be kind to your web-footed friends ("quack, quack"),
For a duck may be sombody's mother ("Hi, ma!").
Be kind to your friends in the swamp ("squish, squish",
Where the weather is very, very damp ("yuckky pooh!").
Now you may think that this is the end ("fat chance!"),
Well IT IS!!

Birdy

Early in the morning [repeat]
When I'm fast asleep [repeat]
I hear a little birdy [repeat]
That goes cheep cheep [repeat]
Now this little birdy [repeat]
Has a funny name [repeat]
Auga flauga feega flooga, ishga nauga neega nooga, auga flauga feega flooga birdy [repeat]

Boom, Boom, Ain't It Great to Be Crazy

Chorus:

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy,
Boom, boom, ain't it great to be nuts like us,
Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy.
Silly and foolish all day long,
Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy.

Way down south where bananas grow,
An ant he stepped on an elephant's toe.
The elephant cried with tears in his eyes,
"Why don't you pick on a guy your own size?"

A horse and a flea and three blind mice
Sitting on a tomb stone shooting dice.
The horse slipped off and fell on the flea.
"Whoops!" said the flea, "Theres a horse on me!"

Way up north in the ice and snow,
There lived a penguin and by the name of Joe.
He got so tired of wearing black and white,
So he wore pink pants to the dance that night.

Man bought a pair of combination underwear,
Wore them six months without a tear.
Wore then a year without exaggeration,
And he couldn't get them off because he lost the combination.

Took myself to the picture show,
Sat right down in the very first row,
Wrapped my arms around my waist,
Got so fresh I slapped my face.

Ebenezer, he sells socks.
A dollar a pair, a nickle a box,
You wear 'em and wear 'em until they stink,
And when you wash wash 'em, they don't even shrink.

Bug Juice

[Tune: On Top of Old Smokey]

At camp with the ... Scouts,
They gave us a drink,
We thought it was Koolaid,
Because it was pink.

But the thing that they told us,
Would have grossed out a moose,
For that good tasting pink drink,
Was really bug juice.

It looked fresh and fruity,
Like tasty Koolaid,
But the bugs that were in it,
Were murdered with Raid.

We drank by the gallons,
We drank by the tons,
But then the next morning,
We all had the runs.

Next time you drink bug juice,
And a fly drives you mad,
He's just getting even,
'Cause you swallowed his dad.

Camp Granada

Hello Mudda, hello fadda,
Here I am at Camp Granada.
Camp is very entertaining,
And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining.

I went hiking with Joey Spivy;
He developed poison ivy.
You remember Leonard Skinner;
He got ptomain poisoning last night after dinner.

All the counselors hate the waiters,
And the lake has alligators,
And the head coach wants no sissies,
So he reads to us from something called "Ulysses".

Now I don't want this should scare ya,
But my bunk mate has malaria.
You remember Jeffrey Hardy,
They're about to organize a searching party.

Take me home, oh Mudda, Fadda,
Take me home, I hate Granada!
Don't leave me in the forest, where
I might get eaten by a bear.

Take me home, I promise I will not make noise,
Or mess the house with other boys.
Oh, please don't make me stay,
I've been here one whole day.

Dearest Father, darling Mother,
How's my precious little brudda?
Let me come home if you miss me,
I would even let Aunt Bertha hug and kiss me.

Wait a minute, it stopped hailing,
Guys are swimming, gals are sailing.
Playing baseball, gee that's betta,
Mudda, Fadda kindly disregard this letta!

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