Last weekend, I went on a backpacking trip to do trail work with the Idaho Trails Association. During that trip, I came up with two little song-y things. One of them was inspired by another of the women on the trip, and the other just came into my head as we were working. And on the last night, I did share my bear song, though my voice totally cracked on it. I need to practice it a lot more so I can be performance ready.
So the first one came about from the words “lopping and chopping” swimming through my head. They made such a nice rhythm and fit right into an old song, ‘Wishin’ and Hopin” by Dusty Springfield. Now, I didn’t remember exactly how that song went, but I fit a few things into the shape that I remembered and ended up with:
We’re loppin’ and choppin’ and brushin’ and treadin’And sawin’ and after we’re throughThe trail is clearYou know you’ve got to saw with techniqueLet the blade do most of the workYou know there’s just no need to use much forceYou will get throughWorking in a rhythmDrawin’ and a pullin’Because we’re diggin’ and gradin’ and cuttin’ and drainin’And limbin’ and after we’re throughThe trail is clear
I might work that one into fitting more of the actual lyrics and song, rather than just what I remembered out there. Especially if I can come up with some more tool/task specific things like with the saw. After I shared that little snippet, one of the other women said I should come up with something matching the 7 dwarves song, “Heigh Ho”. After a little noodling and hiking, I came up with just a snip:
Heigh ho heigh hoWOW ITA we goTo clear some trailsAnd take no malesHeigh ho heigh ho heigh ho heigh ho
That one I may or may not return to. I might not have even shared it on the trail, but that little bit made me laugh so hard I had to share. (Note: WOW ITA is sung “wow eye-tee-ay” for this song, and stands for Women’s Only Weekend, Idaho Trails Association.)