Thursday, November 11, 2010

Songs for a Navy WAVE

While doing more sorting today, I came across a little booklet of songs my mother received when she served as a Navy WAVE in the 1940s. I thought I'd share some of them with you just for fun. Sing along with me if you'd like!

(Warning: What follows may not be entirely politically correct!)

WAVES Go Marching On
(Tune: "Battle Hymn of the Republic")

(Okay, I can't figure out how this first verse fits the song, but the last verses do)

We're WAVES in the Navy.
We are sailors dressed in skirts.
Our lives are run on schedule
[I THINK THERE'S A LINE MISSING HERE!]
And we spend our nightly quiet hour
Washing out our shirts,
The WAVES go marching on.

They teach us how to make a bunk
And how to wear our hats
And shine our shoes and clean our rooms
In almost nothing flat.
They put us all in girdles
If we're thin or if we're fat
The WAVES go marching on.

Well fun is fun but now we're done, 
We're kidding on the square,
We didn't join the Navy
For the uniforms we wear;
We joined to help our loved ones
Who are fighting over there.
The WAVES go marching on.

CHORUS:

GLORY, GLORY TO THE NAVY
GLORY, GLORY TO THE NAVY
GLORY, GLORY TO THE NAVY
THE WAVES GO MARCHING ON.

Navy Boots 
(Tune: "The Caissons Go Rolling Along")

Navy Boots, new recruits
Don your hats and don your boots
Join the sailors a-swinging along.
Column right, left oblique, square your corners, do it right
As the Navy goes singing along.

For it's one, two, three,
Guide right there Company
Call out the cadence loud and strong.
Make them proud of you,
Girl in Navy Blue.
Join the sailors and fight right along.
Join the sailors and fight right along.

Boots of the Navy
(Tune: "Hinky Dinky Parley Voo")

We are the girls they call recruits--
Parley Voo
We are the girls they call recruits--
Parley Voo
We are the girls they call recruits
All we have are our hats and boots,
Hinky Dinky Parley Voo.

They gave us our hats, they gave us our boots--
Parley Voo
They gave us our hats, they gave us our boots--
Parley Voo
They gave us our hats, they gave us our boots
But when are we going to get our suits?
Hinky Dinky Parley Voo.

We are the girls of 612--
Parley Voo
We are the girls of 612--
Parley Voo
We are the girls of 612
We never know just what to do,
Hinky Dinky Parley Voo.

Navy Spirit
(Tune: "You've Got to Be a Football Hero")

We're proud to be a part of Navy.
And stand to colors with the red, white and blue.
We'll back our men in all that they're fighting for
We'll do our share to shorten this war.
You know we're going to miss you, Hunter,
But we're off to help them win.
We may not go to see
But we'll try to be
A credit to the USN. [US Navy]

[Hunter referred to the training center for Navy WAVES located at Hunter College in New York]

WAVES in Navy Blue
(Tune: George M. Cohan's "Yankee Doodle Dandy")

We are WAVES of dear old Navy,
Navy hearts beat in us too.
One for all and all for Uncle Sam
And for the red, white and blue.
We've a lot of work before us
And we're going to see it through.
Navy WAVES all march together,
To defend the nation;
We are the WAVES in Navy Blue.

There are many more songs in this booklet, but they're all to songs I've never heard of, such as: "Bell Bottom Skirts", sung to the tune of "Bell Bottom Trousers"; "Salute to the WACS", sung to the tune of "Skinna-Ma-Rink"; "Don't Make My Girl a Sailor", sung to the tune "Don't Send My Boy to Harvard", and "Ginny, the Ninny of the First Platoon", sung to the tune of "The Strip Polka". (Yes, I know, amazing that songs with such titles ever went out of fashion!)

And of course, no book of Navy songs would be complete without the following:

Anchors aweigh, my boys, Anchors aweigh.
Farewell to college joys we sail at break of day-day-day-day!
Through our last night ashore,
Drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more here's wishing you a happy voyage home.

The preface to this little booklet reads:

"The spontaneous singing of WAVES as they march is the best indication of their spirit. Original songs submitted at Song Fests, supplemented by other Navy songs in this book, set a precedent for you who follow. Carry the book with you, sing and add your own songs; for a singing crew is a happy crew and a happy crew is a good one." W.F. Amsden, Captain, USN

And here's the Dedication:

Singing as they march and work, thousands of American women have upheld the morale at the United States Navy Training School. To them, for their fine spirit, this book is dedicated. In the following words that spirit is expressed.

We are singing WAVES of the USA,
We sing as we march along;
We sing, we sing, we sing,
Our hearts are filled with song;
For we are singing seamen
Of the land of the brave and the free,
We are singing WAVES for Uncle Sam
And we sing for victory.

We are working WAVES of the USA,
We work from dawn 'til night;
We do a job to free a gob
So he can join the fight.
And when the war is over
And our men are home to stay
We can proudly shout we did our part
For the good old USA.

(May be sung to the tune: "Georgia Tech")

To all our service men and women, now and then, WE SALUTE YOU!

6 comments:

Anna Arnett said...

I loved this. Thanks millions. I sang along inside my head. I knew a few WAVES, but forgot what each letter stands for. I suppose I could have been a WAVE or a WAC, but I was a Civil Service Stenographer for about half the war. It's fun to reminisce. That's what my book, Lolly's Yarn, is all about -- I mean memories, but only a small part about WWII.

DanielleThorne said...

Haha--that was pretty darn cool and the pictures are great! Thanks for sharing!

Joyce DiPastena said...

So glad you enjoyed it, Anna and Danielle. Thanks for stopping by. :-)

Susan G. Haws said...

It is nice to remember our female veterans. I suspect they often get forgotten.

Vicki said...

You reminded me of the part our mom played in the War. She was one of these Waves! That's how our parents met. She was a Pharmacist's mate and bandaged our dad's fingers when he cut them using a meat slicer to cut bread. Two weeks later, they were married! He was a marine.

Joyce DiPastena said...

What a great story, Vicki! Thanks for sharing that. :-)