By: Blonde Two
Obviously you are all very sensible and will be joining us outside somewhere fabulous on Sunday for National Get Outside Day. When you do find your way out of the door and into the great outdoors, you might, in the midst of all you exploring, adventuring and picnicking, find yourselves with a moment or two to fill. If you do, I can thoroughly recommend singing. To help you on your way, this week’s Tuesday’s Ten is a Get Outside one with an eclectic collection of ten songs you might like to sing on a mountain top (singing whilst standing on rocks, splashing in streams and lying on trig pillars is also acceptable).
- Nessun Dorma – Okay so it is in Italian but ‘Principessa’ is my favourite Italian word and, unless you have your bivvy bag, I wouldn’t recommend sleeping on top of a mountain anyway. To help you along, I have a translation as well as the lyrics here for you
- I’m Gonna Be (The Proclaimers) – You probably know this one better as ‘500 Miles’ but, after years of listening to Ten Tors trainees, B2 and I can confirm that it doesn’t even take one mile to get through the song
- River Deep, Mountain High (Tina Turner) – Unless you have walked so far that you have altitude to contend with, it is far easier to sing at the top of a mountain than in a deep river… but you might have fun giving it a go
- I Vow to Thee My Country (Sir Cecil Spring Rice) – Anyone with such a brilliant name deserves to have his poem set to music by Holst. There are other countries as it says in the lyrics but you’d be hard pushed to find a more lovely one than ours in autumn
- Shallow (A Star is Born) – A personal swimming favourite this one. I have been heard to attempt, ‘I’m off the deep end…’ as I plunge into the sea but it always ends in bubbles
- Green Green Grass of Home (Sir Tom Jones) – You can’t beat a bit of soft grass when your feet are aching at the end of a long walk, and as for old oak trees, well they have been around a while and can probably tell a few tales if you have time to listen carefully
- Weather With You (Crowded House) – You might look out of the window on Sunday morning and see that it is raining but don’t let this put you off. Rain is far worse when you are inside looking at it than it is when you are outside laughing in it
- Starry Starry Night (Don McLean) – Who knows, once you are outside on Sunday you might want your Get Outside Day to turn into Get Outside Night. If Crowded House (above) have sorted out the weather, you might be able to enjoy a few stars yourself
- Octopuses’s Garden (The Beatles) – This is my very favourite swimming song and I am well practiced at ducking my head under the water in the line breaks. I do, after all, like to be under the sea
- Take Me Home, Country Roads (John Denver) – I can’t promise the Blue Mountains but I can guarantee that, after a day outside breathing in some fresh air and taking in the scenery, you will enjoy going home, your armchair will fell more comfy and your dinner more delicious
Hopefully our little play list has inspired you to get outdoors and enjoy yourself on Sunday. Join us and the nation outside on Sunday 29th September for National Get Outside Day.
Sign up, join your team and let us know how you are going to Get Outside!
I never know what’s going to turn up in my head while I’m walking – my favourite was discovering, after a long time slipping about on loose stones around Great Gable, that I was singing ‘Solid as a rock’!
That’s brilliant. B1 knows that I sometimes sing when I am scared… I used to do it all the time in the dark!