Sharon Allen, who is planning 2007 thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, has amassed a list of trail-related tunage. for her MP3 player. For starters:
Who Knew- Matt Keating
California Stars- Billy Bragg and Wilco
This Land is Your Land- Woody Guthrie
Snakes- Concrete Blonde
High Sierra- Bill Aubrecht
The Pancake Song- Abby and the Pipsqueaks
Quality Shoe- Mark Knopfler
Bottom of the Barrel- Amos Lee
A Walk- Bad Religion
Carry That Weight- The Beatles
Happy Shoes- Beatnik Turtles
The Little Engine That Could- Burl Ives
Golden Path- Chemical Brothers
Wanderlust- Effron White
Santiam Sun, Umpqua Moon- Epiphany Road
Western Stars- k.d. lang
Desert Plains- Judas Priest
Mountain Top- Leftover Salmon
Doing Nothing- Of Montreal
500 Miles- The Proclaimers
Under A Cloud- Quasi
Highest Trails Above- The Ramones
Angels- Sam Baker
Bone Tired- Stone Coyotes
Happy Trails- Van Halen
As I Wind Down The Pines- The Tragically Hip
Well, this could be fun: let’s see how many songs with the word “walk” in them are in my iTunes database:
Walk, Don’t Run — The Ventures
Walk This Way — Run D.M.C.
Walk Like an Egyptian — The Bangles
Walkin’ Down the Line — Bob Dylan
Walk Right In — Dave Alvin
Walkin’ After Midnight — the BoDeans
Walk Through the Bottom Land — Lyle Lovett
Walk Idiot Walk — The Hives
Actually there’s a bunch more but posting them turns out to be a bit more tedious than originally anticipated. Just to put one useful bit of info in this post: supposedly singing on the trail will keep the bears and mountain lions away.
What?? No Eagles tunes???
Oh, yeah… The Eagles were part of the “L.A. Sound,” and nobody walks in L.A.
It’s just that when it comes to singing Eagles tunes in camp or on the trail, (everyone) (well almost everyone) (seems like nobody ever) knows the words.
You KNEW I’d comment on THIS one, eh Tom? 🙂
Note the headline: Hiking songs, NOT campfire songs.
Speaking of which, the problem with Eagles or Beatles or the Beach Boys is that they sang in perfect harmony because they were professional musicians with pro-level musical talent; lesser mortals cannot attempt these songs in the American Idol era without the audience wishing it could summon the courage to enforce Simon Cowell’s rough justice.
Traditional sing-alongs were developed for a reason: for drunken, off-key outdoorspeople to belt out at absurd volume. Keeps the fire going, for one thing. And it’s fun because there are no snazzy Hollywood recordings against which to compare one’s fellow campers.
How about Carolina in the Pines by (I think)Michael McDonald?
Carolyn H.
Tongue firmly planted in cheek, I was — but not while singing at Gumboot last weekend.
I think we might agree on one thing, though. Group singalongs — no matter the source of the lyrics — can foster group cohesiveness and heighten the collective experience.
Sometimes, just knowing the words, if not the melody or the fear of rough justice, is all that counts. I’ve seen the resulting group unity many a time in camp and on the trail.