Singing songs to my son: The Titanic Song

[jacquez]

I grew up in a singing household -- my mother sang all time, and we were always singing along to the radio or the record player/tape player/CD player, and then we went to camp and there are So. Many. Camp. Songs

Comments

[some_stars]

THIS SONG. Oh man, the memories. I really need to look up all those songs my half-sister used to sing to us, somehow it's never occurred to me in the last decade of Google that I can do that now. Assuming I can still remember the lyrics.

[jacquez]

Search engines make reconstructing things like this MUCH easier, I must say.

The thing that weirds me out about the version I know, looking at it, is why the line is "nearing England's shore". It ought to be "leaving". I may replace that bit when I sing it, too, because what the heck, "nearing".

[jwildstr]

"A Boy and a Girl in a Little Canoe" is one of the most disturbing children's songs I know...

[jacquez]

I KNOW, RIGHT??

At least she gets out and swims. And hopefully breaks up with his jerk face.

eta: I should say, in the version I know, she gets out and swims, and you end the song with jazz hands and "get out and swiiiiimmmmm!"

[jacquez]

(hah, there seems to be a version where HE ends up swimming and she paddles the canoe away. Good for her.)

[blk]

Yeah, that's the version my camp always changed it to.

[alicelee]

A cousin and I were finally banned from singing the titanic song together. It was one of the few times we got along... shame it drove the grown ups crazy after the 38,291th time!

[jacquez]

My parents used to be driven round the twist by "this is the song that never ends", which my sibs and I could sing for HOURS.

eta: AND NOW I HAVE IT IN MY HEAD

this is the song that never ends
it just goes on and on my friends
some people started singing it not knowing what it was
and they'll continue singing it forever just because
[loop to beginning]

[harimad]

How soon till Kid can sing the "see-ee-ee-ea" part?

[jacquez]

He probably CAN sing it, but he's not about to. The only times he sings are when he's trying to get one of his parents to do "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" by singing "e-i-e-i-o" at us....

[ariestess]

I don't know that I've ever heard of this song. Hunh...

[jacquez]

It is apparently most commonly encountered in Boy Scouts and at YMCA camps (which is where I heard it). If you have limited exposure to such things it is entirely possible to miss it! But it's a fun song.

[ariestess]

Ahh... I've had no exposure to either, so that explains that.

[harimad]

I learned it on my school's bus during field trips.