Ging Gang Goolie

History & Origin

"Ging Gang Goolie" has one of the most precisely dated origins of any children's song: it was written by Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouting movement, for the first World Scout Jamboree held at Brownsea Island in Dorset in August 1907. The song was composed specifically to be sung around campfires by the mixed group of boys from different backgrounds who attended that historic gathering.

Baden-Powell's genius in writing the song was to make it entirely nonsensical. "Ging gang goolie goolie goolie goolie watcha" has no meaning whatsoever in any language — it was deliberately invented to be cross-cultural, pronounceable by everyone, and completely free of any meaning that might offend or exclude. In a gathering of boys from different nations, classes, and backgrounds, a nonsense song was a great leveller.

The song has since spread around the world through the Scouting movement, which now has over fifty million members in nearly every country. Scouts and Guides have been singing it at campfires for over a century, and it has accumulated a mythology of false etymologies — it has been claimed at various times to be Zulu, Hindi, or Hawaiian, none of which is true. Baden-Powell made it up.

The structure of the song — alternating between the "ging gang goolie" verse and the "hayla, hayla shayla" chorus — is perfectly designed for group singing, with both parts being easy to learn and satisfying to belt out in the dark around a fire.

Our recording captures the campfire spirit, with a boisterous, communal performance that brings Baden-Powell's original intention fully to life.