The Song that Never Ends

Ever since the lovely Madelyn Simone was born more than ten years ago, we’ve listened to music together. As a baby, it was the “Treme Song” by John Boutté. As soon as that magical song began to play, the tears stopped as she listened intently. Choose another song, even with a similar beat, and she knew we were attempting to fool her.

 

For the sweet Emma Belle, her song of choice is the theme music from Law and Order SVU. When its distinctive so-dosounds from the television, she’s mesmerized. Don’t try to get her attention when that music is playing.

 

Now, when the kids are with me in the car, we turn to my collection of CDs for musical entertainment – and yes, my car still has a CD player. I know it’s possible to play music on my I-phone, but I’m still old school enough to hang on to the CDs – and the kids are happy with that, at least for now. Just this week, Madelyn said to me, “Nana, we’ve listened to these so much that I know what the next song will be before it starts.” Yes, Maddie, I know too.

 

We’ve got the sound tracks from Frozen and Trolls, some Disney favorites and Wee Sing selections. When we “celebrated” Christmas in July a couple of weeks ago, Lizzie insisted we listen to Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and friends as they serenaded us in their distinctive voices. I also have CDs full of camp songs, those silly ditties sung around the campfires by generations of kids and counselors as the sun gradually sinks into the west and the crickets chirp in harmony. As the kids and I sang these camp songs this week, I was saddened to realize that most residential camps are shuttered this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Is that precious music in danger of fading away? Not if we can help it!

 

In honor of those silenced campfire circles, here are some camp songs you can sing if you so desire. I’ll start with “There’s a hole in the bucket.” How fun that its stars are Liza and Henry –like our Lizzie and Henry. I’m jealous – my name was never in a song.

 

Some classics are a bit iffy these days. Chief of the insult songs is “Your mama wears army boots.” A ding-dong. What about “Found a Peanut” where the kid dies from eating a rotten peanut, Alice who goes down the bathtub drain, and “Eddie . . . Brown,” the boy who fell into the well? It took so long to say his name that Eddie drowned. Does “Little Bunny FooFoo,” who bops the field mice on the head and gets turned into a goon, pass muster around the 2020 campfire.? 

 

Many camp songs settle in and make a home in our brain, staying with us forever. “Baby Shark.” “Ba Umpa Umpa Bubblegum.” “Little Red Wagon.” “Ham and Eggs.” “The Ants Go Marching One By One.” The modified “Singin’ in the Rain.” You’re welcome. And then there’s the one that comes to mind when political leaders muse about their popularity: “Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I’ll go eat worms.”

 

Even before these days of pandemic, we weren’t  singing together very much, except during the seventh inning stretch, in the sanctuary, and around the campfire circle. Given the increased danger of virus spread when singing in a group, most of our singing is now happening in the privacy of the shower or with the little voices in the backseat of our car. Yet somehow, we must keep singing. World War II martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer urged us on. “In times of care and sorrow, [music] will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.” 

 

I appreciate the counsel of singer Will Oldham, who said, “always end the day in singing.” However, I don’t recommend using “The Song that Never Ends” as your nightcap. Instead, let me suggest one last camp song, sung by Madelyn (and her mom before her) at the end of the camp day: “Shalom, my friend, Shalom. We’ll see you again, Shalom.” A word of benediction, a word of promise. We will sing together again. Shalom.