SCL

You’re lucky. If you had grown up before the Michael W. Smith song was released, you would have had to sing “it only takes a spark, to get a fire going…”

I’m enjoying the list.

That song was sung at my high school graduation. My church was insanely, rabidly anti-CCM; but Sandi Patti and *that song* were fine. I could tell horror stories about how people reacted to me going to CCM concerts, but that’s probably for my own blog.

O.M.G. (and by that, of course, I mean Oh My Gosh).

I have such vivid memories of tearful end-of-camp, last-song played at the big party/dance, crying fests. In 7th grade.

*awesome*

Okay, I totally thought that picture was George Michael for a second.

I’m pretty sure I have video footage of me singing this at my 8th grade graduation. . . . while wearing a neon pink cocktail dress and sniffling through tears at the profoundness of it all.

That hit me right on a nostalgia soft spot. Camp 4-Star, every single year, had to end with this song. The best year was the year the “camp tough guy” of the year went up to the tissue box during the song. We all cheered.

I think I have shed a tear or three to this song.

Zing!

Actually my memories of this song in church usually include a projection screen and 100 or so 35mm slides from the (now former)youth pastor’s three years of serving the church before the budget committee said that we had to cut costs and the first money saving idea was to let go of the youth pastor/my older brother.

guilty again. my friend sang it and i accompanied her at our “senior tea” in high school…

When my camp leaders grew tired of “Friends”, they chose another Michael W. tune… “Pray For Me”.

“…Pray for me and I’ll pray for you
and one day love will bring us back around . . . again.”

Anyone else remember “Circle of Friends”, Point of Grace? That was the ultimate middle-school camp girl sing-along.

What cracks me up is the radio stations that STILL play the dang thang.

I am so glad it only takes a spark got mentioned. Iwent to a camp where you would “catch a spark” at the campfire and give it to a friend, it usually started out for faculty who had helped someone then turned into a way to figure out who liked who

I went on a mission trip to a foreign country that will remain nameless and helped at a youth camp for local believers. I joked with one of my friends that at least we won’t have to worry about hearing “Friends” at the end of camp. Sure enough, the last day one of the locals who spoke English asked to sing a song that we would know and sang it. My friend and I looked at each other and laughed.

What about playing “Thank you for giving to the Lord” at the annual church thanksgiving dinner while showing 900 pictures of church members volunteering — usually taken over the span of the previous 2 Sundays? Good stuff!

Also, Rich Mullins being remembered most for his song “Awesome God”, which people think is such a powerful, spiritual song (rightly so), that he actually wrote sitting in traffic because he was pissed off and pounding on his steering wheel.

I actually giggled during the prelude today, when our organist began playing a most lovely rendition of “Friends”. Of course, it was High School graduatate recognition Sunday, so that completely justifies the song choice. And nobody has to know that, nearly 25 years ago, I drove away from my last day in college, bawling like a baby, singing to (you guess it) “Friends”!

I have to agree that “Friends” went hand in hand with “Pray for me” when I was in high school.

And I TOTALLY have that album on my ipod. It’s great to bust out in my car every now and then.

Some youth leader taught us the shark versions of “Friends” and “Pass it On”:

And fins are fins forever / When a shark begins to swim / And a shark will not say never / ‘Cause the feeding never ends / Though it’s hard to let you go / When you’re chewed from head to toe / A lifetime’s not too long / When you see fins

and

It only takes a shark to get a swimmer going / And soon all those around will see the ketchup flowing / That’s how it is with sharks’ teeth / Once you experience them / You’ll swim no more, you’re washed ashore / Just thought I’d pass it on

I do know the real words to “Friends,” of course, but I can never actually remember “Pass it On” anymore. And actually, I tried to sing it last night, gently mocking my fiance who was trying to light a campfire and was having some difficulty. I couldn’t get past the first two lines.

Totally can relate, but I wasn’t a believer at the time. Even so, tugged at my heart strings every time.

When I was in jr high and high school the homeschoolers in our area went to the rollerskate rink once a month. (Sadly, it’s closed now.) They always played this song last, and you were supposed to skate in groups of two or three. (I think I normally sat that one out.)

ok so I have been reading your blog for a while, and I finally decided to just start at the beginning and work my way up the list. this is HIL.AR.I.OUS. I sang this as a duet at my senior breakast. I also sang a lot of “it only takes a spark” which is now, of course running through my head. Maybe it will spark a sing-along tomorrow at church.

We sang this in choir in 8th grade, and at the time my best friend and I were in a silly fight (like all 8th grade fights are), and by the end of the song we were all snotty and gross and hugged the crap out of each other and vowed to never fight again. Oh! The power of Michael W. Smith!

OH. MY. GOSH. I can’t stand it any more, I found your blog a few days ago and I have spent so much time pouring through it – It seems that no matter where we are from or what our age is we are just all the same! Thank you for making me laugh for days (and cringe a bit too!) The memories have flooded back…. I forgot completely about this song but can’t imagine why, I sang it so many times…. at so many camps…. to so many forever friends..

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou! You are my new internet crush!!!!
Please keep them coming! God Bless you and your family soooo much!

(ps – and please don’t worry, old lady from Oz with hubby and grown kids here – never boiled a bunny yet !)

I don’t know if anyone else can top this… but I was lucky enough to sing this song in the “Friends” play. Yup.. that is right there is a whole musicial set around this song. Oh, lucky lucky me.

Just found the site today and must say “you had me at hello”.

i’m quite happy to say that i am part of the generation that makes fun of all you people.
my old youth pastor used to sing this to us though. it was pretty funny. my mom will also sing it if you mention anything about michael w. smith or friends(even if you are simply talking about a friend!)

also, apparently my youth camp wasn’t very spiritual because for years our last song was the hokey pokey. i kid you not. we LOVED it. the first year we didn’t end camp this way, we were all furious!

it really is true that we’re not alone in the world.
this summer at my sister’s wedding, my cousin and I (who are both in our mid 20s) were reminiscing about our childhood and we got on the topic of christian music– then at the my sister’s wedding reception, I kid you not, “friends are friends forever” was played! we almost died! that song. wow.

naturally, we sang along in a dramatic fashion.

Was just pointed to your website today…that song was played when I finished High School here Down Under in 1989… I'm now a youth pastor & my leaders have never heard of that song..I always joke that we're going to play it to get the kids to cry on the last night of camp, and our leaders only know that song as something to sing accompanied with giggles. btw..there's a good spoof of it on Youtube

I grew up in a pretty Christian small town, and before every marching band competition, our band would always circle up and sing this song… Gooood times.

“Friends” was our junior prom theme, May 1992. Public school even. It still makes me tear up… “a lifetime’s not too looooonnggg, to live…as friends.”

This song was played EVERY time we had a "couple skate" at a roller skating party in our small Christian elementary school. Because those crushes lasted about as long as camp friendships.

MWS himself said that if he'd known back in 1983 that he'd have to sing this song at EVERY CONCERT FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE, he would have thought twice about recording it.

Oh man…did I ever sing this. We gathered around in a circle half-hugging one another barely able to contain the tears. Oh to be young again…

I thought that was George Michael too!

camp ozark. mount ida, arkansas. we sing this song at the end of every session each summer. it's tradition. you don't mess with tradition.

Charlie the Lion saying, “You had me at hello.” is killing me softly. Just as you are with this song.