Camp-Song Songbook
Part 5

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,
Silly and foolish the whole day long,
Boom boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Verse 1
Horse, flea, three blind mice,
Sittin' on the ceiling playing dice,
Horse slipped fell on the flea,
"Whoops" said the flea, "there's a horsey on me!"

Chorus
Verse 2: Man bought a pair of combination underwear,
Wore them six months without a single tear,
Wore them six months without exaggeration,
Couldn't get them off 'cause he forgot the combination!

Chorus

There was another verse which was actually verse 2, with the combination underwear verse being the third verse, but I cannot remember that one! We really enjoyed belting out this one when we could stop giggling long enough to actually sing it! Thanks for bringing back the memory.

—anon.

Get your elbows of the table - (name of person)
(Repeat)
We have seen you do it twice
And it isn't very nice
Get your elbows off the table (Name)

Various other body parts follow...

—Bob Burgan, Claremont, CA

I learned this song as a Boy Scout in New Cumberland, PA. I don't know where it came from or any tune that it matches but every now and then I still find myself singing it aloud much to the amusement of my wife...

The Quartermaster's Store

There are mice (mice) running through the rice at the store, at the store.
There are mice (mice) running through the rice at the Quartermaster's Store.

Refrain
My eyes are dim. I can not see. I have not brought my specs with me.
I have not brought my specs (specs) with (with) me (me).

There are snakes (snakes) as long as garden rakes at the store, at the store.
There are snakes (snakes) as long as garden rakes at the Quartermaster's
Store.

Refrain

It would go on with as many rhymes you could think of, rats as big as wine vats.

—Joseph V. Capuano, Jr., Ypsilanti, MI

Sung to the tune: My Bonnie

Oh, rabbits have bright , shiny noses,
I'm telling you this as a friend.
The reason their noses are shiny,
the powder puff's on the wrong end!

Wrong end, wrong end,
the powder puff's on the wrong end, wrong end.
Wrong end, wrong end,
the powder puff's on the wrong end!

I learned this song while volunteering with the U.S.A. Girl Scouts Overseas at Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany. It is one of many, many songs I have learned since then.

—J. Olesen-Jensen, Militarily Displaced Minnesotan, Moody AFB, Georgia

Running over, running over *
My cup is full and running over*
Since the Lord loves me,
I'm as happy as can be! **
My cup*** is full and* running over.

Motions to song
* hands in front rolling - rolling - rolling
** fling arms in the air & jump around like a jelly bean
*** cup hands
The motions are very important!!!

I sang this at Bible school in the basement of the Methodist church in Doylestown, Pa in the late 50s. (I didn't GO to camp - too scared to leave home - does it COUNT???? you asked for camp songs ). In retrospect the song is a "little" enthusiastic for Methodists; however, the term "chosen frozen" never crossed my path until I attended a Presbyterian church as an adult . I still sing it with little kids and they LOVE it - children love to jump around! and so do we!!!

(not related - Paul Griffin submitted a song to the tune of the Stars & Stripes Forever "Be kind to your web footed friend, for a duck may be somebody's mother .... etc."). I didn't know anyone else knew it - thought I had made it up in a dream.

—Jean Porochonski

As kids, we loved to visit my great-uncle's farm in southeast Kansas. My family went there one summer to meet up with uncles, aunts and cousins from California and Oregon. Six of us kids were between the ages of seven and eleven - the perfect ages for songs about underwear and bodily functions. Besides teaching my brother and me how to speak while burping, our west coast cousins taught us this song:

Floating Down the Delaware

Here comes (name of person)
Floating down the Delaware
Chewing on their underwear
Looking for another pair
Three days later
Bitten by a polar bear
Poor old polar bear died.

The song became a staple in my family's repertoire and I'm diligently teaching it to my nieces and nephews.

—Lori Sturges, Wichita, Kansas

Rise and Shine
(Sung to Rise and Shine)

CHORUS: (sung between each verse)
Oh, rise and shine and give Him the glory, glory,
Rise and shine and give Him the glory, glory,
Rise and shine and give Him the glory, glory,
Children of the Lord.

Old Noah, he built him, he built him an arky, arky,
Noah, he built him, he built him an arky, arky,
Built it out of birchy barky, barky
Children of the Lord.

The animals, they came in, they came in by twosies, twosies,
Animals, they came in, they came in by twosies, twosies,
Elephants and kangaroosies, roosies,
Children of the Lord.

It rained, it rained for forty daysies, daysies,
Rained, it rained for forty daysies, daysies,
Almost drove those children crazy, crazy,
Children of the Lord.

The sun came out and dried up the landy, landy,
Sun came out and dried up the landy, landy,
Everything was fine and dandy, dandy,
Children of the Lord.

We sang this song at Camp Glen-Barry in Hendersonville, N.C. There are hand motions to accompany the song: move flat hands parallel to each other, right over left, then left over right; touch right elbow with left hand, then left elbow with right hand; clap twice. (Easier to demonstrate than to describe!!) Those were wonderful days; many of the lyrics already submitted bring back fond memories!

—Beth Yeomans Thrift, Waycross, GA

This one has two versions; the genteel version is the one sung when the counselors are in sight. Later, after lights out, the campers traditionally make an anatomical change in the lyrics.

Do your ears hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie 'em in a knot,
Can you tie 'em in a bow?
Can you throw 'em over your shoulder,
Like a Continental soldier?
Do your ears. . . hang. . .low?

Oops. Didn't remember to include my town and state when I sent in the lyrics to "Do Your Ears Hang Low." It's Gainesville, Georgia, and thecamp, up in the mountains, was Camp Cumbegay (I understand that it changed its name sometime in the past thirty years. Can't think why.) Anyway, as far as I can tell, the tune is unique to the song.

—anon.

This is an old song we used to sing at Lutheran Island Camp in Battle Lake, MN. When you make the skunk spraying noise, you just go until you can't go anymore!

Well, I stuck my head in a little skunk's hole
and the little skunk said
"Well bless my soul.
Take it out. Take it out. Take it out.
Remooooove it."

Well, I didn't take it out
and the little skunk said,
"If you don't take it out, you'll wish you had.
Take it out. Take it out. Take it out.
Remooooove it."
Pssssssssssssssssssss

I removed it too late!

—Shelly Rushmeyer, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Put another log on the fire
Cook me up some Bacon and some Beans
Bobbie Bare,

Hard Time Hungries

—Leif Johnson, Garden Grove, CA

I was a camp counselor all the summers of college (and a few beyond.) Here's my favorite:

Sandwiches

CHORUS
Sandwiches are beautiful, Sandwiches are fine
I like sandwiches I eat them all the time
I eat them for my dinner, I eat them for my lunch
If I had a hundred sandwiches, I'd eat them all at once

I once met an old man who had a loaf of bread
He saw that I had tuna fish
He looked at me and said
"Your tuna fish is lonely, and my loaf of bread is bare,
We could have some sandwiches if you would care to share"

Chorus
Now a sandwich can be egg or cheese or
even peanut butter
They all taste so good to me
It really doesn't matter
Ham or Jam Or Cucumber Anything will do
I like sandwiches
How Bout You?

Chorus
Now a sandwich made of mice would be just right for an owl
A sandwich made of garbage for a skunk who's on the prowl
Honey for the Honeybee, Duckweed for the duck
A sandwich made of clover for the old woodchuck because

Chorus (A few times)

And that's the end

—Dawn Rouse