One of the things that I most enjoyed when I was little was my parents singing together. We would drive down the road and they would sing the old, old songs that they knew so well. My dad used to sing a sad song about a little homeless boy, and mom sang Red Wing, about an Indian maid who lost her warrior brave.
Together they sang songs like Keep the Home fires Burning, and Old Black Joe, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and many other beautiful songs of that era.
Some of those songs, I sang to my kids, plus songs that I had learned and loved as a teenager. We usually all sang together when we traveled somewhere, so it was part of any trip.
Often, (since we lived in the country) , we would build a bonfire, roast hot dogs and marshmallows, and all sit around the campfire and sing songs until way past bedtime.
We sang songs by Harry Belefonte, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and many of the other songs popular in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.
I think the one that was Robin’s favorite that I loved singing to her was Turn Around, an old Belefonte song about a little girl growing up.
She also liked Kristofferson’s song, Jody and the Kid, and I remember that she was totally shocked when she learned that Engelbert Humperdink was actually someone real.
She was sure that it was just another name that her mother had made up !