Summer Camps Song Parody (and Why I Bothered to Write a Song that Won’t Be Sung)

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Today I’m posting a song parody – scroll down a bit if you want to get straight to it. The song is based on “Summer Nights” from the musical Grease and pokes fun at the ridiculous pain in the ass that is summer camp registration. I hope it brings you some much needed laughter amidst this hard aspect of modern parenting.

It’s worth noting I have never written a song parody before. If I were to assess whether this was a worthwhile use of my time from the standpoint of trying to forge a career as a writer, the answer is certainly no:

• Social media is the best way to share a song parody, and I’m not very active on it – I have a 10-minute daily limit on my Facebook app on my phone; I’m almost never on Instagram and signed up only because I thought I was going to use it a bunch when I started blogging (I didn’t); and I’ve never stepped a virtual foot in TikTok territory.
  
• YouTube is the second-best way to share a song parody, and I have no clue how to start a YouTube channel, nor any desire to do so.
  
• Even if I were to get on the social media or YouTube train, it would take a LOT to produce a video that has at least eight different singing parts (parent lead 1, parent lead 2, and each of their respective posses who cry out, “Tell me more, tell me more!”). I’m not a performer, nor do I know many; I certainly don’t know any whose primary mode of performance is online.

So when this song parody idea came to me, I initially thought, why bother?

Why write a piece that’s designed to be performed when it won’t be performed? Why spend six hours brainstorming ideas, composing lines, and tweaking rhyme and meter when I could do something more productive, like make dinner or clean the bathroom or write something that could possibly earn a little money someday?

The answer came to me as I wrote: because creativity is valuable in and of itself.

That realization is one of the best insights that’s come from my season of pause. Our society, schooling us in the worship of productivity, says that the end result of a creative project must “make sense” in order to be worthwhile.

I call B.S.

The ACT of creating is as great a source of joy – maybe greater – than the output. And while the outside world judges a creation’s value, no one but the creator can assess how much joy and learning and pure aliveness has sprouted from planting those creative seeds.

We deprive ourselves of all that creativity sparks inside us if we pursue only those projects whose immediate value is obvious.

To return to the writing of this song parody: I tried for a good while to concisely lament the high price of a wildly popular local summer camp called “Adventures in Cardboard.”

I rhymed “bucks” (as in money) and “sucks” (as in “that sucks”) and it didn’t work. I attempted to use the phrase “cardboard camp” and my meter was off.

When I finally stumbled upon the pair “thrifty” and “fifty” and the lines came together in the rhymer’s holy grail of multi-syllabic rhyming words, I pumped my fist through the air and hissed, “YES!” I felt invigorated and blissful, floating on a natural high through the rest of my day.

(Yes, it’s nerdy, and no, that doesn’t make me the least bit embarrassed. Everyone deserves to be nerdy in their own special way. If you’ve found your way, own it. If you haven’t, go find it and let me celebrate with you when you do.)

Who doesn’t want to feel incredibly alive?!? People pay good money and engage in questionable actions to capture those feelings, and creative efforts offer them up for FREE.

SO. If an idea sparks a little bit of joy inside you, if it makes you say “I wonder…”, if it makes you feel a tiny bit more alive and open to the world than you did the moment before this particular idea came to you,

pursue it.

Go draw something poorly, make pottery that will never leave your own home, do some calligraphy to write something as mundane as your grocery list.

Or if, like me, you get your high from cultural commentary and rhyming words, go write your own song parody you have no intention of singing.

Now for the main show. Grab your partner in parenting and release your summer planning rage through a pop musical theater duet. Without further ado, I give you “Summer Camps.”

Original Lyrics (to help with melody/rhythm)	Parody Lyrics
Summer loving had me a blast Summer loving happened so fast I met a girl crazy for me Met a boy cute as can be Summer days drifting away To-ah! Oh, the summer nights Well-a, well-a, well-a, huh	Summer sign-up, deadlines have passed Summer sign-ups happened so fast It’s still winter – how can that be?!? Sign-ups start at Christmas, you see Parks and pool, sure that sounds cool But-ah! Oh, the summer camps Well-a, well-a, well-a, huh
Tell me more, tell me more       Did you get very far?                Tell me more, tell me more                   Like does he have a car?	Tell me more, tell me more Why so many half-days? Tell me more, tell me more What’s this slime-making craze?
Uh huh (doo doo)                                             Uh huh (doo doo)                                             Uh huh (doo doo doo doo doo)	Uh huh (doo doo)                                             Uh huh (doo doo)                                             Uh huh (doo doo doo doo doo)
She swam by me, she got a cramp He ran by me, got my suit damp I saved her life, she nearly drowned He showed off, splashing around Summer sun, something’s begun But ah! Oh, the summer nights Well-a, well-a, well-a, huh	Busy morning – why can’t this wait? ‘Cause registration opens at eight No big deal, I’ll do it at ten We’re waitlist-bound if we wait until then Summer break, so much at stake Cause ah! Oh, the summer camps Well-a, well-a, well-a, huh
Tell me more, tell me more Have you checked out the Y? Tell me more, tell me more, Will she give soccer a try?	Tell me more, tell me more Have you checked out the Y? Tell me more, tell me more, Will she give soccer a try?
Dow, doobie do, doobie do Doobie, doobie, doobie Dow, doobie do, doobie do Doobie, doobie, doobie, dow	Dow, doobie do, doobie do Doobie, doobie, doobie Dow, doobie do, doobie do Doobie, doobie, doobie, dow
Took her bowling in the Arcade            We went strolling, drank lemonade We made out under the dock We stayed up ’til ten o’clock Summer fling, don’t mean a thing But ah! Oh, the summer nights Whoa, whoa, whoa	Build with cardboard? Sweet, that sounds thrifty. Try again – it’s four hundred fifty. Holy crap. How ‘bout the zoo? Just looked it up – that’s four fifty, too. Summer days, no time to laze Cause ah! Oh, the summer camps Whoa, whoa, whoa
Tell me more, tell me more But you don’t gotta brag Tell me more, tell me more ‘Cause he sounds like a drag	Tell me more, tell me more Do you wanna compare? Tell me more, tell me more Got a spreadsheet to share?
Shoo bop bop, shoo bop bop Shoo bop bop, shoo bop bop Shoo bop bop, shoo bop bop Shoo bop bop, yeah!	Shoo bop bop, shoo bop bop Shoo bop bop, shoo bop bop Shoo bop bop, shoo bop bop Shoo bop bop, yeah!
He got friendly, holding my hand Well, she got friendly down in the sand He was sweet, just turned eighteen Well, she was good, you know what I mean Summer heat, boy and girl meet But ah! Oh, the summer nights Whoa, whoa, whoa	High demand, the website’s not loading We need this camp so our kid can learn coding Not our fault — technology fail But he needs it to get into Yale.   Summer heat, parents compete For ah! Oh, the summer camps Whoa, whoa, whoa
Tell me more, tell me more How much dough did he spend? Tell me more, tell me more Could she get me a friend?	Tell me more, tell me more How much dough will it cost? Tell me more, tell me more Is your retirement lost?
It turned colder, that’s where it ends So I told her we’d still be friends Then we made our true love vow Wonder what she’s doing now	Now it’s springtime, that’s where it ends We got signed up, sometimes with friends Kids at play, cruising ‘round on their bikes… Wonder what that might be like
Summer dreams ripped at the seams But, oh Those summer Nights! (Tell me more, tell me more, more, more)	Summer days adrift in the haze Of, oh Those summer Camps! (Tell me more, tell me more, more, more)