This blog is a new chapter in a project I've been working on for years, collecting and organizing the songs that enrich the culture of scout camps in Colorado and elsewhere. I started on this route back in 1999 when I was introduced to the community of Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch, a very nice Boy Scouts camp near Elbert, Colorado. Whatever horribleness the Boy Scouts of America perpetuate as an organization, the culture at this particular summer camp represents the best of what Boy Scouts could be. An important part of this camp culture is the music, all the folk songs, traditional songs and more recent popular songs that make up a local modern folk music tradition.
The Peaceful Valley Songbook has been recompiled and re-edited several times. I have in my possession several editions of it, including the one I edited a few years ago. Not all the songs in any edition were regularly performed, but the standard criteria for all editions seems to be that the compiler either knew the song as one used at camp in their past experience, or one they foresaw being used in the near future. Some of these songs were tailored to specific programs, with themes like root beer, bananas or superheroes. All were usually sung a capella, though when guitarists were on staff some of the 'slow-down songs' had instrumental accompaniment.
On this blog I will be posting all the songs in my camp song collection, starting with those I could sing from just looking at the lyrics. At this time I do not have a mechanism worked out to post audio files for these tunes, but I do know all of them and may post audio files at a later date when I have time to make them. I will be adding in provenance information for each song as I find it, including publishing dates and writers/origins. Unless a song is marked as having been published prior to 1922, it is safer to assume that it is copyright protected until you know otherwise. Many camp songs are classic folk tunes which are public domain, but quite a few newer songs have filtered into the collective folk tune category. I am including these songs on this site because they form an important part of the living history of folk music, but all rights to these more recent songs are still reserved to their rightful owners.
Some last notes: 1) The lyrics I am posting are mostly taken directly from the songbooks. Therefore, while there are other versions of most of these songs, these are the versions from PV, or BDSR, etc. I may occasionally shift a word or correct a line where the printed text from the songbook does not reflect the words as they were actually sung at camp. I'll note any major changes, as these often reflect two different 'eras' in camp singing, where the earlier camp staff performed the song as written and a later camp season revived the song as its own. This sort of fluidity is normal in folk music, though in the modern world with all our recorded music we do not always see folk music in its more organic state like this.
2) I am always interested in other versions of camp songs I know, and in new camp songs I don't yet know. It will take a while to post all of the songs I have, since they are not in html format yet until I type them up as such. But, time permitting, I am also still adding to my collection. If you, oh random reader, know songs from your days at a summer camp, boy scouts or girl scouts program, or other similar setting, that you think could benefit my collection here, feel free to send me your lyrics. Similarly, if you have any questions, ask. I am not a professional expert in folk music, by any means, but I'm learning more every day and might be able to at least locate whatever information you are seeking in this area.
3) This is a hobby. I am not getting paid, at all, for any of this (otherwise I would potentially be seriously overstepping the bounds of copyright law posting recent song lyrics here). I would certainly love to be able to pay rent with this sort of work, but at the moment I am still balancing real life and my music/blogging projects, so posting here may be sporadic. If you are checking back every day and getting annoyed that I am not posting something new every day, you've got the wrong idea. This may be a very cool blog over time, but give it time, please. I still have a thesis to write, and somehow have to keep on paying the rent. That said, thanks a lot for your interest! I really love folk music traditions and the social aspects of shared music, and enjoy the thought of sharing the songs I've been collecting with a wider audience.
4) For those folks who have worked at Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch, in particular, if you remember songs that are not in the songbook, please let me know. Chances are, you and I are connected via facebook, or you know someone with whom I am 'facebook friends', so you are welcome to send me a message however you wish. I am not just compiling songs from PV. I started listing the classic PV skits a few years ago, and am in the process of writing them out in script form, but I never played a major role in Pretty Pretty Princess, or the Medicrine, or the Florist Friar, so I may be remembering lines wrong. And there are a lot of skits and run-ons I forget even existed, though if I ever saw them again I'd know them. If you have a favorite skit or run-on that you want to add to this collection, please do type it up as you remember it, and send it to me. If I get several different versions of the same skit, that's ok. And, if you'd like to add skits from BDSR or another scout camp, please do. I did work at BDSR for a summer, so some of their distinctive repertoire is familiar to me as well.
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