I find it natural to hum, or sing a song while kayaking. Help keep up the rythym hour after hour.
Just finished a 3 day trip, and it became apparent that my selection is quite limited:
ONE MORE RIVER TO CROSS (And that one river is Jordon)
YOU AINT WOMAN ENOUGH TO TAKE MY MAN
IM SO LONESOME I COULD CRY
ONES ON THE WAY
What are your favorites?
me too!
I thought I was the only one. I’m always singing while paddling (alone at least). I get funny stares from boaters as they pass me. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m in a kayak, I’m singing loudly, or both. I generally sing whatever is on my current listening rotation. I think I was singing some Queen songs last time I was out on the water!
Hamms Beer theme
I like the old (60’s?) commercial jingle we used to hear for Hamms (Hamm’s?) Beer - the mascot was this cartoon bear who would get into various misadventures - often involving a canoe, as I recall! There was this cliche “Indian” (like, American Indian) song that went with it - you know, with that BOOM-boom-boom-boom BOOM-boom-boom-boom drumming that we all were told all Indian music useed - and I sing this to myself as I paddle:
FROM the land of sky-blue WAH-ters
COMES the beer re-FRE-esh-ing…
HAMMS, the beer re-FRESH-ing…
HAMMS, the beer re-FRESH-ing…
And I don’t even drink beer! 
- rob
While paddling on Lake Superior…
I kept hearing the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, by Gordon Lightfoot.
Depends on the weather…
…in wind and waves, I’ve been known to hum Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries; mellower times will find me singing “Shenandoah”…
Paddling songs
If you will accept the suggestion of a canoehead. I find the Volga Boatmen’s song as interpreted by the old Red Army chorus to be very good for laying out the beats when you are on big water, paddling against a strong head win with waves getting ready to white cap and you are starting to get worried. I just go on auto pilot with it and I am here to tell you about it.
On one trip up to Temagami we also amused ourselves with old Jeanette McDonald/Nelson Eddy tunes like Indian Love Call. Corny? You bet, but it helps you do what you gotta do on a long trip -pick it up, put it down and get on down the lake.
randino
Mine is
the weather started getting rough
the tiny ship was tossed
if not for the courage of the fearless crew
Nighttime in the switching yard
fron warren Zevon. Not for distance paddling for working a heavy standing wave. When surfing I just get my pants scared off by the roar. When paddling along I just paddle along.
sea cruise
sea cruise baby
sea cruise
sea cruise baby
sea cruise
sea cruise baby
wont you let me take you on a
sea cruise?
Well you asked for it
– Last Updated: Jul-21-04 9:41 PM EST –
River by Bill Staines
http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiRIVRTAKE.html
On a Rolling Sea Jesus Speaks to Me ( I save this one for really big swells)
http://www.timobrien.net/Lyrics2.cfm?ID=33
A Pirate Looks at 40 (Jimmy Buffet /Jack Johnson version) Usually while upside down .
http://www.stanford.edu/~reedg/tabs/piratelooksat40.html
jimmy buffet
in the words of the good and revered mr james buffay -
lovely cruise -
Drink it up this one’s for you
It’s been a love cruise
Sorry it;s ending yah it’s sad but it’s true
It’s been a lovely cruise
These moments were left with
May you always remember
These moments are shared by few
There’s wind in our hairAnd there’s water in my shoes
It’s been a lovely cruise
These moments were left with
May you always remember
These moments are shared by few
Those harbor lights
They’re coming into view
We’ll bid our farewell much too soon
So Drink it up
This one’s for you
It’s been a lovely cruise
Ah honey it’s been a lovely cruise
Ah sugar it’s been a lovely cruise
Ballad of Easy Rider
The River flows
Flows to the sea
Where ever that river flows
That’s where I want to be
Flow, river, flow
Let your waters wash down
Take me from this road
To some other town.
Flow, river, flow
Past the shady tree
Flow, river, flow
Down to the sea
The most famous of all.
Row,Row,Row Your Boat
A necessity when you have a 4 and 5 year old in the canoe.
Local fare
A song by my friend Lennie Gallant:
The Pull of the Fundy Tide
We went walking on a Fundy shore
To shake off the troubles from the night before
Dark clouds were gathering, I thought for sure
It was the calm before the storm
You threw the stick, the dog did his part
The stone I threw skipped like a restless heart
Every ripple ran into another like
Thoughts that won’t take form
At the moment of the turning tide
Thought I felt something shift inside
And I saw the both of us trapped in time
At the edge of a brand new morning
Chorus:
And the rain started falling
But it felt so good
When I kissed your shoulder
I felt the pull of the Fundy tide
I felt the pull of the Fundy tide
I felt the pull of the Fundy tide on my heart
Then something wonderful caught your eye
An eagle watching from a rock so high
Like some kind of sentinel in the sky
A guardian of the soul
We let the rain wash the doubts away
The tide delivered them far beyond the bay
And what really happened then I can’t say
But it’s something to try to hold
Chorus
Spin me a cartwheel where swallows fly
While the famous painter and his wife sail by
And the sun is hidden by a beautiful sky
Over the Fundy shore
Songs
Cuban National Anthem of course … ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT
JB’s Margaritaville
JB’s Reasoning with hurricane season
JB’s Last Mango in paris
JB’s Changes in Latitudes, changes in attitudes
and so many more
Brian
Way down upon
“Way down upon the suwannee river”
How about JB’s
Mademoiselle Voulez-vous, written by my friend Lennie?
Whatever is stuck
in my head from my band’s last gig or rehearsal. Sometimes Giovani Gabrieli, occasionally Handel or even Glenn Miller, or maybe a little something from the Crescent City. Sousa’s Washington Post March makes for an enthusiastic cadence.
Taj
L
I frequently get “Rock the Kasbah” stuck in my head while paddling… probably cause “the sound of freedom keeps interrupting my solitude”
My aunt and uncle
own a lodge in Tamagami, where did you stay there?