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Songs of Camp Songo
1947-1954
During the summers of 1947 through 1954, I was a camper at Camp Songo, an all-boys camp in Casco, Maine. All of the campers and some of the counselors were Jewish. We played a lot of baseball, basketball as well; we swam and canoed; we did most everything that campers of that era did. But more than almost anything else, we sang.
We sang in the dining hall, at camp assemblies, around the campfire, at flag raising and lowering, on day hikes and overnight camping trips, on bus trips to compete with other camps. It seems as though we were always singing something. Much of what we sang drew from traditional folk songs or popular songs of the day, but quite a few other songs were unique to the camp; those are the ones I’ve noted here.
Many of those unique songs were sung during Color War, a 3-4 day period at the end of the camp season, which was unquestionably a camp highlight. The entire camp would be divided into two teams representing the camp colors (originally green and gray, later green and gold), and would compete in nonstop daily activities ranging from bunk inspection to fishing to finding the rival team’s colored hatchet somewhere on the camp property. Passions and emotions during Color War ran high – once to the point where counselors on different teams got into a physical fight.
The culmination of Color War, perhaps not surprisingly, was the Song and Cheer contest held on the last night. I remember these contests well; they were intense and dramatic; I only wish they could have been recorded for posterity.
But for some not-entirely-clear reason, the lyrics to these Color War and other camp songs have stayed with me. More recently, some of the lyrics have appeared full-blown in my consciousness, unbidden and unannounced. And since hardly anyone else I know remembers those lyrics, I thought I should write them down and entrust them to some archive, such as Documenting Maine Jewry, so that they will not be forever lost to memory.
But why is this important? Why set down these lyrics at all? It may have less to do with the lyrics of the songs themselves – they are certainly not high art -- but more to do with their place in American and Jewish cultural history of the time.
For I went to camp directly after World War II, in the shadow of the Holocaust. The Holocaust itself was never mentioned at my camp; our camp was entirely secular. (We had “Services” on Friday nights, but with no explicit Jewish content.) We were Jews of a different kind: mostly sheltered middle-class city kids, mostly mild-mannered and obedient, growing up in a new assimilationist America, where religious identity would be less of a defining characteristic.
Yet mild-mannered though we were, our camp song lyrics were saturated with competitive, aggressive, and even violent imagery. The protagonist in these songs typically goes off to battle and strives unceasingly to smite the foe, vanquish all enemies, and triumph in glory. Through these lyrics, we campers were encouraged to march, smash, roar defiance, shatter mountains, make them quake, scalp ‘em, be out for gore, bring the bacon home or bust, fight come what might, and never yield.
All these values and behaviors were widely at variance with those of our upbringing -- for we were gentle and protected Jewish children who for the most part would remain that way. But at least during camp summers, we would become young Jewish Warriors; and with that mentality, carried forward into adulthood, the tragedy of the Holocaust would never happen again.
This interpretation is admittedly speculative. But since there are few accidents in history, it seems worth considering. What do you think, readers? Take a look at the song lyrics following, and judge for yourself.
~~ Bill Berkowitz
Bill_Berkowitz@uml.edu
Arlington, Massachusetts
January, 2017
About the Songs
The songs following are given in alphabetical order, generally by first line, as the songs did not commonly have formal titles. Songs # [to be inserted] were Color War songs, while Songs # [to be inserted] were other songs unique to the camp. High on a Hill over Pleasant and Songo We Love, were, as I recall, the camp’s unofficial alma maters.
Lyrics are given as best I remember them. The melodies for the songs, not reproduced here, were almost surely not original. Several were modeled after existing college fight songs. The original source of the song is noted when I knew it; in most cases, though, the original sources are not known to me.
Across the Campus
Across the campus you can hear a mighty roar
The Gray Team, the Gray Team
They're marching to the fight as they have done before
They roar defiance to the world
And all the loyal rooters will begin to cheer
With might and main we’ll fight again for cherished victory
Victory will surely soon be ours
For Songo’s glory
And the honor of the men who wear the gray
We’ll fight you fair and play you square in any game you know
And in the sunset, you’ll hear our mighty cry of victory
Oh, when you hear our call it means the battle’s just begun
And when you hear our cry it means the battle’s just been won
[Cheer:]
Gray Team, Gray Team, watch us as we go
Gray Team, Gray Team, watch us smite the foe
U rah rah, U rah rah, U big Gray Team rah
And the honor of the men who wear the gray.
Charge, Green, and Take the Field
[Tune: University of Michigan fight song]
Now shatter the mountain with challenge cry
The foe runs to shelter for they must die
By moonlight the battle begins
Green!
All advance with bright eyes gleaming
Battle cry and chargers streaming
Charge, Green, and take the field
This is a Green Team day
Hush now, they're coming nearer
Rush now, for honor dearer
To victory, ride
For Songo’s pride
We’ll fight, fight, fight with all our might
(And then we’ll)
This is a Green Team day.
For It’s Up with Camp Songo Boys
For it’s up with Camp Songo boys
Down with the foe
Old Camp Songo’s out for a victory
We’ll shoot our men around the foemen’s line
Hot times are coming up, O brother mine
Old Camp Songo triumphs today
And the yell of the foe
Will echo their woe
As we fight on for Camp Songo.
For the Fight We’ve Got the Spirit
The clarion calls:
Men of Gray Team, forward, march!
For the fight we’ve got the spirit
For the war we’ve got the men
For the rest we’ve got our level best
So the Gray Team will win again
’47, ’48, now again in ‘49
Every year, you can tell,
It’s the same old story
Green will try, Green will fall, as we fight for glory
Winning is a habit
Gray will never lose
Sound the call: The Gray Team marches forward
Flaunt your Gray Team banners high
Count the cadence: Let us hear your voices:
Sound off – One, Two!
Sound off – Three, Four!
Count the points to victory
Add ‘em up!
Gray is honor
Gray is courage
Gray Team has the highest ideals
Our men are upon the fields
We’re ready for the first punch
Ready for the last punch
Ready… For the fight we’ve got the spirit
Oh, the Gray Team will win again.
Gold Team Cheer
Gold Team, go all the way
Gold Team, never delay
For you gotta get it going if you're gonna make a showing
So go go go go Gold
Gold Team, we’re gonna win
Gold Team, never give in
We’re gonna fight tonight
We’re gonna do all right
So go go go go Gold.
High on a Hill over Pleasant
High on a hill over Pleasant *
At the camp we all love so dear
We're building a solid foundation
For the coming year
Pride in our camp and our campus
Founded many years ago
Long live our name
Camp that we claim
Hail to Camp Songo.
___________________
* The reference is to Pleasant Lake, on which the camp fronted.
Into the Fight
Into the fight, let's go Seniors (?)
Into the fray, let’s go men
Give it your best for old Songo
And the green and gray will win again
Always win
Never lose
For we've got the kind of team that makes the news
In the state of Maine we’re best
Far ahead of all the rest
S-E-N-I-O-R-S (?)
(So) into the fight, let's go Seniors (?)
And the Green and Gray will win again.
Invictus
The Gray Team goes to the battlefield
And we'll win
Never give in
Our banners high
We’ll never say die
Victory will be our battle cry
Forward go
Vanquish the foe
Our stalwart men
Will triumph again
Gray Team
Invictus.
It’s the Green Team Marching to Victory
It’s the Green Team marching to victory
Proud array of lofty majesty
And their banners wave triumphant
For the day rests with the Green
Green warriors will never yield
They’ll win on every field
For they’ll fight
With might
And overcome the enemy
When the combat comes to a mighty close
And the field is strewn with conquered foes
It’s the Green army that goes marching on
Triumphant, to victory.
Marching on, to the Fray
Marching on
To the fray
Heads high
Spirits gay
Camp Songo men
Take the field, we’ll never yield
We’ll never yield
Bugle call
Welcome sound
In line we fall
Victory bound
Our banners are high
Right to the sky
Forward to fight is our battle cry.
On Camp Songo
On Camp Songo, On Camp Songo
Fight on Green and Gray
(Blank blank blank…) (??)
Set the hills reverberating
Echoes roar our fame
Oh, Songo marching on to glory
Fight for Songo’s name.
Scalp ‘Em, Songo
On Camp Songo’s big reservation
Sits the best tribe of the nation
Scalp ‘em, Songo [followed by war whoop]
Scalp ‘em, Songo
Wiser than the owl in the night
Swifter than the hare in its flight
And in the evening by the council fire
Copper skins are brightly gleaming
Black eyes gleaming for the Songo war
Here's good luck to Camp Songo’s warriors
Hoping they'll return all victorious
Scalp ‘em, Songo!
Songo Had Some Golden Chickens
Songo had some golden chickens
No eggs they lay
Now Doc * said “Honey,
This isn't funny
We're losing money
No eggs they lay.”
Then one day a green rooster
Came into their yard
And caught those chickens
Right off their guard
They're laying eggs now
Just like they used to
Ever since the green rooster
Came into their yard.
* “Doc” was the nickname of the Camp Director.
Songo in Every Battle
Songo, in every battle
Brings the bacon home or bust
Songo, we make things rattle
Please excuse our dust!
We may not be the early risers
But, say, we capture all the prizes
And we make things quake
For alma mater’s sake
We’re the campers of Pleasant Lake.
Songo on Pleasant Lake
[Tune: University of Southern California fight song]
Songo, on Pleasant Lake
We're out to win
For Songo’s sake
Our hearts
Of flame and fire
With one desire
We’ll never tire
For we are out for gore
And what is even more
We -- Will -- Win
Because we are…
[Repeats]
Songo, We Love
[Tune: Wagner’s Tannhauser]
Songo, we love
Our loyal hearts beat ever
To you we’re true
Men of Songo fight on forever
Though the foe may show fight
We will win, day and night
Songo, always a tower of strength and renown
Our Camp Songo
Our Camp Songo.
The Green Songo Hills
[Tune: Second movement, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony]
The green Songo hills
Re-echo our cry
Men of Green
Valiant team
Men supreme
Will smash the Gold ‘ere long
With faith in our men
We will triumph again
Will smash the Gold ‘ere long.
We are young, we are bold, undefeated
Hearts are one, spirits gay, none can beat us
With the odds on our side, victory’s certain
For the _______ (??), and we will win
For we
Are the Green
We’re the Green
And we will win!
The March Is On
The march is on
No brain or brawn
Can stop the Gray Team’s fighting men
You'll hear our cry
The grim defy
Of our attack let loose again
For it’s the fight fight fight of victory
The Gray Team’s call to march
And all its warriors are winning
When you hear that fight fight fight
Gray march together
Staunchly we stand
Friends bright and true
We are the Gray Team's gallant men
Shoulder to shoulder
Smash through the enemy
Lift up your banners
And march along to victory.
We Stand in the Dawn
We stand in the dawn and we watch the flag rise
The red and the white and the blue Songo skies
Our hearts fill with joy, and our heads fill with pride
We are brothers and friends, and it feels good inside
Through the years love will grow; we’ll return like the tide
To Camp Songo
Cool breeze and warm lakes; the tall trees slowly sway
The touch of the sun on the green and the gray
The fireflies glow, for ‘tis night all too soon
In darkness, our bugle notes rise to the moon
To Camp Songo.
You Men of Green Team, on to Victory
[Tune: La Marseillaise]
You men of Green Team, on to Victory
The day of glory has arrived
With the banner of valor to guide us
Rally round as we march on the foe
We will fight come what might to the end
For the honor of Green to defend
Now hush, as the foe sounds retreat
Now rush, as the Gray route is complete
The Green Team will triumph ‘ere the sun sets
March on, you men of Green
The Viking host is keen
March on, march on
All hearts as one
[last line??]