Text:
[The whole song is sung as a call and response. A line will be sung by the leader and then repeated by all present. After four unique lines, those lines will be repeated together by everyone to a different melody. To streamline reading I’ve not written the whole of the song like this. For the first ‘verse’ I’ve bolded the lines the leader sings alone and italicized the repeated section sung together. The rest of the song is written without this formatting, but when sung it is repeated in this way]
“The other day
The other day
I saw a bear
I saw a bear
A great big bear
A great big bear
Oh way up there
Oh way up there
The other day
I saw a bear
A great big bear
Oh way up there“
“He looked at me
I looked at him
He sized up me
I sized up him
He said to me
Why don’t you run
I see you aint
Got any gun
I said to him
That’s a good idea
So come on feet
Lets up and flee
And so I ran
Away from there
And right behind
Me was that bear
Now up ahead
There was a tree
A great big tree
Oh glory be
The lowest branch
Was ten feet up
I had to jump
And trust my luck
And so I jumped
Into the air
But I missed that branch
Oh way up there
Now don’t you fret
And don’t you frown
CauseI caught that branch
On the way back down
That’s all there is
There ain’t no more
Unless I meet
That bear once more
The end the end
The end the end
The end the end
The end the end
ME: where did you learn this song
P: I learned it growing up camping in Illinois
A: I learned it from my dad
F: I learned it from my dad too, in our backyard when we sat around a campfire and sang songs.
A: yes indeed
ME: any personal analysis or thought on it?
P: it’s a campfire song for sure
A: It’s about a bear
F: and running away from said bear
P: and getting everybody to sing along around a campfire cause that’s good times
A: and questioning why he missed the branch and then didn’t miss the branch
F: yeah he’s a good jumper
A: yeah, he’s a really good jumper
P: Did ya ever think he was gonna get eaten by the bear?
A: I don’t know, I just remember knowing the song
F: as a kid: yeah
A: I just remember knowin’ it
F: what?
A: that’s it
ME: okay I’m gonna end the recording”
The following link leads to a recording of this performance: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p7GPZLqfs9hA5d5ZCgvwC448XQJtGZr-/view?usp=sharing
Context:
The informants are my father (P) and sisters (A and F). All of us have gone camping together many times. All of us have gone camping during our childhoods. We all grew up in Illinois. Campfire stories and songs are common in the midwestern United States. Growing up my family would frequently sing them around fires in our backyard and when camping away from home.
P learned this piece while “growing up camping in Illinois.” A and F learned this song from P.
The song/tale is usually performed around a campfire, outside. It is also usually sung alongside other campfire songs and stories.
This performance took place in our living room, because I asked for it for my class collection project.
Analysis:
This song while maybe not obvious, is also a tale. the story is told from a first-person perspective, but it is not believed to be a true story. Additionally, the tree and woods this takes place in/near are not said to be any real location.
This tale references a bear attack; bears do not live wild in Illinois. This discrepancy would indicate that this story originated elsewhere, or that the trope of bear attacks while camping is very very common in this culture.
This tale also indicates a common fear of bears. And, the common ways of dealing with bears: guns/shoot them or run.
As P said this song is also popular because it is good at “getting everybody to sing along around a campfire cause that’s good times.” The call-and-response style of telling makes this tale easy to participate in and engage with. This would make it popular in an intimate setting like around a campfire.