ONAWAY VOICES

We still sing from morning ’til night at camp. There are songs at meals, songs in the cabin groups, songs in Chapel, songs on Campfire Rock at night. Here are a few you might remember. Click here for a digital version of the songbook

Ash Grove

Down yonder green valley
where streamlets meander
While twilight is fading
I pensively roam.
Or at the bright noontide
in solitude wander,
Amidst the dark shades
of the lonely ash grove.
‘Tis there where the blackbird
is cheerfully singing,
Each warbler enchants
with his notes from a tree.
Ah, then little think I
of sorrow or sadness,
The ash grove entrancing
spells beauty for me.

Origin: The Ash Grove is a 19th century traditional Welsh folk song which has been set to many lyrics since it’s instrumental debut in 1802. Our version, at least the first verse, closely resembles the earliest and best-known English version by Thomas Oliphant. The melody has been used in numerous settings since, including the Thanksgiving Hymn, Let All Things Now Living, and the BBC mini-series Pride and Prejudice.

My Paddle’s Keen and Bright

My paddle’s keen and bright,
Flashing with silver,
Follow the wild goose flight,
Dip, dip and swing.
Dip, dip and swing her back,
Flashing with silver,
Swift as the wild goose flight,
Dip, dip and swing.

Origin: Written by Margaret Embers McGee (1889-1975) in 1918, this four part round is used to keep time while paddling.

Flicker

The flicker of the campfire, the wind in the pines,
The moon in the heavens, the stars that shine,
A place where people gather to make friends of all kinds,
A place where all men’s troubles are always left behind.
So, give me the light of the campfire, warm and bright,
Give me some friends I can sing with, I’ll be here all night.
Love is for those who find it; I’ve found mine right here,
Just you and me and the campfire, and the songs we love to hear.
(repeat second stanza)

Manana

The counselors at Camp Onaway are mean as they can be,
They think of everything they can to torture you and me.
But someday I’ll be old enough to be a counselor, too,
I’ll be the meanest counselor that Camp Onaway ever knew.

Chorus:
Manana, Manana, I’ll be real nasty
Just you wait and see.

Before I came to Onaway I thougt I swam the crawl,
But now I fear there’s no one here who feels that way a all.
I’m just a little minnow blowing bubbles ’til I’m numb
If what they want is bubbles, why not give us bubble gum?

(Chorus)

We’re either Browns or else we’re Whites, but I’m all black and blue,
They took us up to Soup-Bowl Slide and told us what to do,
I did as I was bid and slid right down that rocky slide,
That slide was made for permanence, and not my little hide.

(Chorus)

The other day when I was thrown I lay there in the dirt;
My elbows, shoulders, back and knees, and dignity were hurt;
They signed and shook their heads and said, “my dear it is a shame,
But you of course and not the horse are certainly to blame.”

(Chorus)

I thought I was a climber but I quickly got my fill
While playing “hide and seek” with cows while scaling Tenny’s Hill’
If every mountain climber must contend with things like that,
I’ll pray for fallen arches and go climbing where it’s flat.

(Chorus)

Origin: Onaway’s original lyrics set to a popular song written by Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour and published in 1947. It was a Billboard hit single!

Maria

A way out here they have a name
For wind and rian and fire.
The rain is Tess, the fire is Joe,
and they call the wind Maria.
Maria blows the stars around
And send the clouds a flyin’;
Maria makes the mountains sound
Like folks were up there dying.
Maria, Maria, they call the wind Maria.
Before I knew Maria’s name
And heard her wail and whining,
I had a gal and she had me
And the sun was always shining.
But then one day I left my gal,
I left her far behind me,
And now I’m lost, so cold and lost,
Not even God can find me.
Maria, Maria, they call the wind Maria.
Out here they have a name for rain,
For wind and fire only,
But when you’re lost and all alone,
There ain’t no name but lonely.
Now I’m a lost and lonely man,
Without a star to guide me.
Maria blow my love to me,
I need my gal beside me.
Maria, Maria, they call the wind Maria.

Origin: from Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s 1951 musical, Paint Your Wagon.

Onaway, A Promise

Onaway, a promise, a vow not to forget,
Though far from your shores.
Onaway, together, we live time and again;
In days to come,
I will come back, I shall come back,
To praise they name once more.
When I stand alone by the lake, by the lake,
Tall pines bring me peace just to see,
To relive again friendships old, life so free,
I’ll be coming back, wait for me.
Onaway, I promise, I vow not to forget,
Though far from your shores.
Onaway, together, we live time and again;
In days to come,
I will come back, I shall come back,
To praise they name once more.

Origin: Original Onaway lyrics set to the popular 1955 song, “Unchained Melody”, with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret, for the little-known prison film, Unchained (1955). The song was made popular by the Righteous Brothers, but over 1,500 recordings of “Unchained Melody” have been made by more than 670 artists, not counting Onaway girls!

Winkin, Blinkin and Nod

Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe-
Out on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
“Where are you going and what do you wish?”
the old moon asked the three.
“We’ve come to fish for the herring fish
That live in the beautiful sea.”
The old moon laughed and he sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars are the herring fish
That live in the beautiful sea-
“Now cast your nets wherever you wish,
Never afeared are we.”
Winkin, and Blinkin are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one’s trundle bed.
So close your eyes while Mother sings
Of the wonderful sights that be
And you shall see these beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea.So goes the tale of the fishermen three:
Winkin, Blinkin and Nod.

Origin: A popular poem for children written by American writer and poet Eugene Field, published in 1889. The original title was Dutch Lullaby. It was set to music in 1890 by American pianist and composer Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin.