Five feet High and Rising. Johnny Cash.

Capercaillie - Crooked Mountain

Capercaillie - Rob Roy Reels

Yngwie Malmsteen - I am a Viking. It inspires me courage.

The Vikings still burn themselves a long boat every January in the Shetland Islands in Scotland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AduFwJFn5Jg&feature=related

Well, I'm not clear whether the thread is about songs that you listen to (big yawn) or songs that you sing out loud when the crunch is on (now we're talking).

It may be impolitic in present company, but the song that has got me up many a steep, slippery hill with full pack (and other equivalent situations) is "Barrett's Privateers" by Stan Rogers.

Though sometimes, I have been known to simply utter "B@stards! B@stards! B@stards!" over and over, kind of like a mantra, to keep me the noradrenaline flowing and me moving forward.

Ever since Stephen King's "The Stand," Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" conjures an ultimate survival scenario.

As to what I'd be inclined to sing in a survival situation (whether lost in the woods or as one of many in a disaster) I'm reminded of the evening of 9/11/01, as my city (DC) became unnaturally ghost town quiet because of deserted streets and the airports and trains being shut down. One song came to my mind that night, I grew up listening to my mother play it on the piano:

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

I was annoyed when the Congress assembled on the Capitol steps that evening to sing "God Bless America." Struck me at the time as a wimpy celebratory tune when the Civil War-era Battle Hymn was more apt. It was played at the 9/14/01 service at the National Cathedral.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHVZK7nFYRQ&feature=related

Lyrics (they have varied) from Wikipedia:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on."

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this one:


Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, That started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a mighty sailin' man, the Skipper brave and sure. Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour. A three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost. The Minnow would be lost. The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle,
with Gilligan, the Skipper too, the Millionaire
and his wife, the movie star, the Professor
and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan's Isle.

Anyone remember the name of the song the brits sang in the Michael movie "Zulu" right before the last big charge? I can hear the song, but I can't remember all the words. That was a powerful strong survival diddy.

Found it, twas the opener for the final battle of Rorke's Drift.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_of_Harlech

Facing their doom, they sure did sing it well enough to stiffen your backbone.

Here's another cheery survival tune

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuKx7AgHLes

btw, happy Pirate's day.