"Make New Friends" ("Make New Friends, But Keep The Old") - Poem/Song Origin & (Words Only) Examples

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series about the song "Make New Friends" ("Make New Friends, But Keep The Old").

This post provides comments about Joseph Parry who created the poem that serves as the basis for the song "Make New Friends".

Comments about the Girl Scouts and about others singing "Make New Friends" are also included in this post along with some additional verses for this song.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/12/make-new-friends-song-information-about.html for Part II of this series. That post provides information about the Girl Scouts' friendship circle and friendship squeeze as well as information about the spin (untwisting) that may occur after the linked arm version of the friendship circle.

Part II also showcases video examples of Girl Scouts singing "Make New Friends" in friendship circles. In these videos, "Make New Friends" isn't sung in a round.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/12/video-examples-of-singing-make-new.html for Part III of this series. Part III showcases videos of "Make New Friends" being sung in the musical format known as "a round" by choirs and by Girl Scouts. Part III also showcases videos of "Make New Friends" sung in American Sign Language (ASL).

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Joseph Parry, the author of the late 19th century poem that forms the basis of the song "Make New Friends". Thanks also to all the other people who have contributed verses to this song and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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Pancocojams Editor's Note:
The inclusion of this series on this pancocojams blog (whose purpose is to present examples of Black cultures throughout the world) doesn't mean that this song was composed by or was/is only sung by Black people.

I'm including information about the song "Make New Friends But Keep The Old" because I was curious about it as a result of seeing it performed by my granddaughter, a Daisy Girl Scout, and by other members of various Girl Scout troupes at a recent event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "MAKE NEW FRIENDS" ("Make New Friends, But Keep The Old"
These quotes from various websites are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Multiple comments within each of these excerpts are also numbered for referencing purposes only.

Unfortunately, I haven't found any information about who created the tune for "Make New Friends" or when that tune was first used for that song. If you know this information, please add it in the comment section below. Thanks!

Excerpt #1
From https://pamecrement.com/2016/07/20/wisdom-from-an-old-poet/
WISDOM FROM AN OLD POET
Posted on July 20, 2016 by pamecrement
"Many years ago while I was a Brownie and then a Girl Scout, I learned valuable lessons (along with having fun) that I really did not fully appreciate at the time. Age and lived experience have shone a different light on some of those things.

If you were in scouting, the first few lines of one song likely quickly come to mind. Until recently, I had forgotten the others.

Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.
New-made friendships, like new wine,
Age will mellow and refine.

Friendships that have stood the test-
Time and change-are surely best;
Brow may wrinkle, hair grow gray;
Friendship never knows decay.

For ‘mid old friends, tried and true,
Once more we our youth renew.
But old friends, alas! may die;
New friends must their place supply.

Cherish friendship in your breast-
New is good, but old is best;
Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.

The song came from a poem written by Joseph Parry who was born in 1841 and died in 1903. I am not aware of when the Girl Scouts began to use the words in the song I came to know or how often they altered all but the first stanza."...

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Excerpt #2:
From https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/2j2q1x/how_old_is_songpoem_that_begins_make_new_friends/
1. Posted byu/mime454, 2014
"How old is song/poem that begins "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold?"
I can't seem to find any origin on this poem when googling, despite the fact that nearly everyone knows at least the first line of it.

How far back can the poem be traced?"

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REPLY
2. AccoSpoot, 2014
"1925, Girl Scout Song Book"

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REPLY
3. mime454, 2014
"Boardwalk Empire seems pretty well researched, and in season 5 episode 5 it was sung in a flashback from 1897.

That just says when the first girlscout song book was published, not how old the song is."

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REPLY
4. NoNormals, 2014
...."Poem by Joseph Parry which I assume the girl scout song simplifies"

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3. Excerpt #3:
From: Make New Friends song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoWpcTk4e0o

Peanutislander24, Published on Aug 6, 2014

"Make New Friends"
Make new friends,
but keep the old.
One is silver,
the other is gold.

A circle is round,
it has no end.
That's how long,
I will be your friend.

A fire burns bright,
it warms the heart.
We've been friends,
from the very start.

You have one hand,
I have the other.
Put them together,
We have each other.

Silver is precious,
Gold is too.
I am precious,
and so are you.

You help me,
and I'll help you
and together
we will see it through.

The sky is blue
The Earth is green
I can help
to keep it clean

Across the land
Across the sea
Friends forever
We will always be
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Comment from Esmeralda's Life Fandango, 2017
"What a sweet sounding voice and such a pretty girl. And, she sang the tune correctly, unlike done in so many of the other videos posted on YouTube. I am 71 years old and she sang the tune the way it was sung when I was a Brownie Scout. Back then there was only one verse and it was sung as a round. The other verses were added in the 1990s, I think. I gave 20+ years to Girl Scouting. So from one old Scout to a wonderful young one, thank you for sharing the song and your talent. And to Peanutislander24, thank you for posting."
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Here's information about the musical term "singing in a round":
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_(music)
"A round (also called a perpetual canon [canon perpetuus] or infinite canon) is a musical composition, a limited type of canon, in which a minimum of three voices sing exactly the same melody at the unison (and may continue repeating it indefinitely), but with each voice beginning at different times so that different parts of the melody coincide in the different voices, but nevertheless fit harmoniously together (Johnson 2001). It is one of the easiest forms of part singing, as only one line of melody need be learned by all parts, and is part of a popular musical tradition...

Some widely-known nursery rhymes are rounds; "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is a well-known children's round for four voices. Other well-known examples are "Frère Jacques", "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys (the first usage in contemporary pop music) and "Three Blind Mice" (Hoffman 1997, 40)."...

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4. Excerpt #4:
From https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=714
"The song "Make New Friends" was originally sung as just the 1st verse in a round.

MAKE NEW FRIENDS
Children's Song

Make new friends,
But keep the old.
One is silver,
The other is gold.

A circle is round,
It has no end.
That's how long,
I will be your friend.

A fire burns bright,
It warms the heart.
We've been friends,
From the very start.

You have one hand,
I have the other.
Put them together,
We have each other.

Silver is precious,
Gold is too.
I am precious,
And so are you.

You help me,
And I'll help you
And together
We will see it through.

The sky is blue
The Earth is green
I can help
To keep it clean.

Across the land
Across the sea
Friends forever
We will always be.

Notes
Younger kids often sing just the first verse or two of this song.

Comments
According to Anita from Song Scouting, "The original lyrics date to at least the 1920s. The additional lyrics written to the tune appeared sometime after 1990 and are uncredited."

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Except #5: Girl Scout Song Make New Friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMAxP-95yn4

Tina Welch, Published on Sep 23, 2012

Traditional Girl Scout song "Make New Friends" with lyrics, to help the girls to practice. :)
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Here are some comments from this sound file's discussion thread, with numbers added for referencing purposes only:
1. Laura Cowan, 2013
"I LEARNED THIS IN MUSIC CLASS IT'S WHEN U DO IT WITHOUT THE MUSIC IN GROUPS OF 3 TRUST ME ITS HARD"

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2. patricia postiglione, 2013
"What is the fraction of the rhythm and beat of Make New Friends?"

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REPLY
3. Tina Welch, 2013
"I would say it is in 4/4 time. I'll see if I can find sheet music..."

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REPLY
4. April Adare
"@Tina Welch yes, it is in 4/4 time. I'm looking at the sheet music."

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5. tkastanias, 2015
"why just repeat the first verse and never do the second?"

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REPLY
6. Tina Welch, 2015
"@tkastanias
1) I made this video for Daisies (5-6 year olds). One verse was enough.
2) Ask GSUSA. This version is from the CD sold in GS Shops."
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"GSUSA" = Girl Scouts of the United States

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7. babiigirlxo, 2017
"chorus class circa 2004 😍"

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8. Madisyn Vienola, November 2018
"Here is how my troop sings it

Make new friends
But keep the old
One is silver
And the other gold
A circle is round
It has no end
Thats how long i want to be your friend
A fire burns bright
It warms the heart
We’ve been friends from the very start"

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This concludes Part I of this three part pancocojams series.

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