How do you feel about singing around the campfire?

Don’t get too close, not everyone appreciates the smell of roasted nuts.

@ucme You just gave me a great idea. I can suggest he put his chair by the fire so everyone can see him better.

I should add these are three different groups of people on three different times of the year. (July, Sept, Oct). Yet no matter the group, there is always one person who insists upon playing the songs they learned in high school.
After about an hour I usually get up and bring firewood. Someone’s got to do it.

Many of the people I go camping with are in bands so they are relatively skilled at the guitar and drums and singing. But generally they play anthems of our past like Boxcar and Blister in the Sun and everyone joins along. It is actually one of the better parts of camping for me.

@LuckyGuy I feel your pain though, some dick feels the need to play the stereotypical camper & breaks out his gee-tar without a moments thought for anyone else.
Maybe if all of you started howling at the moon & drowned his warbling out, either that or extra wood for the fire as you say.

This weekend is one of the annual reunions which is why this Q came to mind.

I like to catch up on what people are doing. We can be having great conversations about Java tricks or piezo actuators or dating exploits or adventures but that all ends when the guitar comes out.
Oh well… I will smile and get more firewood.

‘Puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea….’

See, it’s fair enough if they play some decent tunes that everyone likes & has aptitude, but to sit & play boy scout crap, he’d be wearing the guitar as a hat/scarf combo if I was there.

Pointless.

I’d probably get up and leave, rude or not. Singing around the campfire? I honestly can’t think of anything more cheesy than that.

1. Put marshmallow on end of stick.
2. Put marshmallow in campfire until it catches fire.
3. Fling at the the idiot singing stupid shit.

You could always bust in with Eazy-E lyrics if you don’t want to hurt anyone. This is a personal favorite.

At least I’m not the only one on the planet that feels this way.

For me, the best parts of the weekends are the face-to-face conversations with each other. In my age demographic it is still considered a little bizarre to use FB to tell the world about personal things. We still talk to each other. These gatherings are our chance. The ‘entertainment’ stops it

@johnpowell Thanks for introducing me to such an accomplished artist. It takes talent to be offensive on so many levels.

Beware wandering rednecks campers, they make you squeal like a stuck pig.

Too bad there can’t be two campfires – the singing one and the chatting one. Of course, that would be silly but it’s a thought.

@LuckyGuy :: this is where having some weed comes in handy, you can pull people away to smoke a bowl. Cocaine works too, whatever you are into.

John Belushi handled it really well in Animal House.

@LuckyGuy: “We can be having great conversations about Java tricks or piezo actuators or dating exploits or adventures but that all ends when the guitar comes out.”

Shit. That’s too bad. I know the feeling though. There were people in college that would hijack any meaningful conversation by demanding that we all get our guitars out. Music is great and all, but I think many of these people used it as a way to avoid talking. They likely have nothing to add to the conversation, or are completely unfamiliar with using brain cells.

When I was a kid, we would camp once a year with some of my dad’s family. At some point, my dad or one of his brothers would start singing while we were sitting around the fire and everyone would join in. It was usually something that they had sung together in their high school quartet that everyone knew. It would only last for 3 or 4 songs and then the conversation started again. It was spontaneous and fun.

Your situation though, @LuckyGuy, sounds kind of tricky. Do you know if others get irritated with the interruption? If so, maybe after song number three or four, a bunch of you start applauding wildly, whistling and howling. Then one of you tells the guitar player, “Wow, that was great! Thanks so much for that moment of entertainment!” Hopefully he/she will get the hint.

Failing that, go with @Adirondackwannabe‘s solution.

@tedibear i sang songs around the campfire too when I was a kid. Where else would learn the above mentioned songs. But Jeez…. we are well into adulthood now. I want to find out how Adam’s business is going or get tax tips from Bob, or see if Charley is still employed. I don’t need to hear about Puff one more time. Yeah, I get it… the song is about drugs, yeah I know…

The situation is tricky indeed.. Like I said everyone is nice and polite – no drunks, stoners, or whatever. Just people successful in their lives and careers. There are no cynics in the bunch (at least not publicly). I cannot even ask the question.

It is supposed to be a gorgeous night tonight. I might try escaping when he pulls out the guitar. Wish me luck.

Have you considered cutting the guitar strings while people struggle to erect their tents?

If the guitar-playing attention-whore is not the hosting or financing the event, I would step away and resume conversation – you are not obligated to him/her. Hell, I go to concerts and spend $50+ for a ticket and folks are all around me yammering during the performance by a professional musician, so in a casual reunion environment I say it’s ok to do what you want to do.

Well for many, it’s hard not to join in on a camp fire song. I think the trick is to get people engaged in another activity first to keep the conversation going.

I recently came up with a camp fire activity. Terrible movie descriptions. You randomly take turns coming up with a very simplified description of a movie and everyone has to guess. (I.e. was told not to get it wet, got it wet = Gremlins). You’d be surprised how much fun this is once it gets going.

Also, you could bring a boombox and use it for back ground music. No one likes to play music over other music.

I’ve never gone camping in my entire life, and I have no interest in doing so. I’m an urban girl, through and through, and camping doesn’t offer room service or spa treatments.

No camping = no campfire = no singing around the campfire.

I think the real answer is to take @johnpowell with you. He has a myriad of ways to help! :-)

It was fun in scout camp when I was twelve but now? I’d be worried about ants and spiders and those songs don’t do anything for me anymore. I would like the guitar player if he’s really good, though. But only for half an hour .
A hot dog, some marshmallows, a couple tunes then lights out.

Only if it’s the Campfire Song Song

I think it would be fun, we forget how to be silly and play sometimes.

I thoroughly enjoy singing around the campfire. Doing just that at girl scout camp made me want to be a alto so I could sing the harmony. I turned out that I had that kind of voice range when I grew up. Just singing the melody line over and over is a bore. You need voices that can make the music more interesting.

I enjoy it. Don’t know about the others however, I have a shitty voice. As my mom says, I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.

Please update us when you can, please, @LuckyGuy…

I am back from the trip and am still unpacking, getting laundry together, repacking my tent, etc. I will update tomorrow.
In case you can’t wait, here’s the punchline. We left the circle before he started playing and ended up sitting on a plastic tarp and talking in peace. It was great.

I had a wonderful time. Thanks to your comments I learned that others feel the same way about campfires and music as I do. Before the guitar came out a few of us relinquished the campfire and walked off elsewhere to sit, drink a little, and talk. A box of Merlot goes a looong way. The conversations were wonderful. Let’s see what did I learn?... I heard who was dating whom, who got married, which businesses are expanding and which are contracting, benefits of e-cigs, long term health care aides for elderly parents, optics for UV work, dating site matches and experiences, hitchhiking and working as a cocktail waitress,...

…while off in the distance, some folks sang yet another verse of Puff the Magic Dragon. To each his own.
You all gave me the courage to walk away. Thank you!