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Music

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A Culture of Singing

At Onaway there is a song for everything. The dining hall is a place of music. Someone has a new haircut or a birthday or they pass a level, they all get a song! A visiter joins camp - we have a song for that! You have a sister, a cousin, or a distant relative at camp - you may need to sing a song for everyone! Weekly chapel and gatherings at the rock include singing. When campers return from trips, they write and present songs about it! And, every evening ends with a song.

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Camp Choir

The camp choir is comprised of the whole camp. Campers prepare for chapel each week by following sheet music or learning their part from the counselor in charge of choir. Songs sung at chapel range from traditional hymns to folks songs to modern music, such as Kasey Musgraves "Heart of the Woods." Campers can also choose to sing at the Hebron chapel on Sunday mornings - a nice way to give back to our Newfound Lake community!

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Auditioned Opportunities

Each summer, campers can audition for the Select Choir. This choir prepares songs to be sung at the parent weekends. They often sing more complicated songs with more parts. Additionally, most summers the Lower Camp Play is a large musical, such as Frozen or The Lion King. While any camper can be in this play, campers must audition for the larger roles.

Some favorite campfire rock songs...

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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!

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