Camp Songs: Around the Fire Songs

Sing a Campfire Song

I would guess that a traditional campfire song is sung around every camping sing-along. It just isn’t quite the same without it.

I have included the lyrics here to some of my favorite traditional camp songs.

This campfire song is one that generations of campers have known and loved but somehow it never seems to grow old.

Home on the Range

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Chorus
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Where the air is so pure,
And the zephyrs so free,
The breezes so balmy and light,
That I would not exchange
My home on the range,
For all of the cities so bright.

The Red man was pressed
From this part of the west,
He's likely no more to return,
To the banks of the Red River
Where seldom if ever
Their flickering campfires burn.

How often at night
When the heavens are bright,
With the light from the glittering stars,
Have I stood there amazed
And asked as I gazed,
If their glory exceeds that of ours.

Oh, I love these wild flowers
In this dear land of ours,
The curlew I love to hear cry,
And I love the white rocks
and the Antelope flocks,
That graze on the mountain slopes high.

Oh give me a land where
The bright diamond sand,
Flows leisurely down in the stream;
Where the graceful white swan
Goes gliding along,
Like a maid in a heavenly dream.

Then I would not exchange
My home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play;
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
 

Another campfire song that many campers know and enjoy. I know this song has more verses. Do you know what they are? Send an email to me.

The Bear Went over the Mountain

The bear went over the mountain
The bear went over the mountain
The bear went over the mountain
To see what he could see.
And all that he could see
And all that he could see
Was the other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain
The other side of the mountain
Was all that he could see.
 

 

Here is another often requested campfire song that is very popular in camp sing-alongs.

She'll be coming Around the Mountain

She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes (Whooo, whoo!)
She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes
She'll be coming around the mountain
She'll be coming around the mountain
She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes

Other Verses:
She'll be driving six white horses when she comes (Whoa, there!)
We'll all run out to meet her when she comes (Hi babe!)
We'll kill the old red rooster when she comes [Wolf whistle.]
We'll have chicken and dumplings when she comes (Yum, yum!)
Oh, we'll all have indigestion when she comes, (Burp, burp!)
She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes (Move over!)
She will have to wear red flannels when she comes (Scratch, scratch!)
We will all be very sad when she leaves (Boo, hoo)

 

 

This campfire song comes from way back. It originates from the era when the railroad was being built across the western United States. Railroad workers made up songs to pass the time away as they worked.

Working on the Railroad

I've been working on the railroad
All the live long day
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away
Don't you hear the whistle blowing,
Rise up so early in the morn
Don't you hear the captain shouting,
Dinah blow your horn

Dinah won't you blow
Dinah won't you blow
Dinah won't you blow your horn
Dinah won't you blow
Dinah won't you blow
Dinah won't you blow your horn

Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah.
Someone's in the kitchen I know,
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah,
Strummin' on the old banjo, and singing

Fee-fi-fiddle-e-i-o
Fee-fi-fiddle-e-i-oooo
Fee-fi-fiddle-e-i-o (hold the o)
Strummin' on the old banjo.
 

 

Got a camper along by the name of Billy? This campfire song may be perfect for a little fireside mirth. And hopefully he's got a good sense of humor to take a little good-natured teasing.

Oh Suzannah

I came from Alabama
With my banjo on my knee
I'm going to Louisiana
My true love for to see
It rained all night the day I left
The weather it was dry
The sun so hot I froze to death
Suzannah don't you cry
Oh Suzannah, oh don't you cry for me
I've come from Alabama
With a banjo on my knee
 

 

Got a camper along by the name of Billy? This campfire song may be perfect for a little fireside mirth. And hopefully he's got a good sense of humor to take a little good-natured teasing.
 

Billy Boy

Oh, where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Oh, where have you been, charming Billy?
I have been to seek a wife,
she's the joy of my life,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.

Did she ask you to come in, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Did she ask you to come in, charming Billy?
Yes, she asked me to come in,
there's a dimple in her chin.
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.

Can she make a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Can she make a cherry pie, charming Billy?
She can make a cherry pie,
quick as a cat can wink an eye,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.

How old is she, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
How old is she, charming Billy?
Three times six and four times seven,
twenty-eight and eleven,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.

IMPORTANT: We do not claim to have written any of these campfire song lyrics. It’s very difficult to track the origin of the traditional camp songs. Many of the older songs are part of the public domain and we are unable to know if any are copyrighted. If you feel a song included here has infringed on a copyright, please let us know.