Lyr Req: The Merchant Marine

Subject: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: TS
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 05:02 PM

ok Catters..need your help again...chorus is

"WE're the merchant Marines and we sail the seven seas..dumdedumd..not sure of the rest"..nice song though...any takers on the rest?????........Slàinte!

Subject: Lyr Add: HEAVE HO! MY LADS! HEAVE HO!
From:
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 03:49 PM

Sorry, didn't find that one, but found the Official Song of the US Merchant Marine

Battlin' Pete - Disney Merchant Marine Emblem
Sheet Music for USMMS Song
HeaveHo USMMS Song

Heave Ho! My Lads! Heave Ho!
Words and Music by Lieut. (jg) Jack Lawrence, USMS, 1943.

Give us the oil, give us the gas
Give us the shells, give us the guns.
We'll be the ones to see them thru.
Give us the tanks, give us the planes.
Give us the parts, give us a ship.
Give us a hip hoo-ray!
And we'll be on our way.
 
CHORUS
Heave Ho! My Lads, Heave Ho!
It's a long, long way to go.
It's a long, long pull with our hatches full,
Braving the wind, braving the sea,
Fighting the treacherous foe;
Heave Ho! My lads, Heave Ho!
Let the sea roll high or low,
We can cross any ocean, sail any river.
Give us the goods and we'll deliver,
Damn the submarine!
We're the men of the Merchant Marine!

Subject: Lyr Add: MERCHANT MARINE (Celtae)
From: GUEST,Kat
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 10:37 PM

MERCHANT MARINE – Celtae

CHORUS: We're the Merchant Marine and we sail across the sea
As the U-Boats' torpedoes hunt for hulls that they can breach.
We will brave the rugged ocean. Blistering winds test our devotion,
But we'll keep steaming 'til our cargo's on the beach.

1. We arrived in Halifax with all we owned upon our backs,
For we knew a brave man's duty was to labour for the fight,
But it takes more than bravery to survive killers you can't see.
Those bastard wolf-packs hunt by day and strike by night.

2. We have barely any weapons; every day our lives are threatened,
And if we die, the Navy sends no pension to our wives.
Winter on the North Atlantic is hellish, cold, and frantic,
For the sea alone's a challenge to survive.

CHORUS

3. In the war of Hitler's visions, the Allies would get no provisions,
'Cause the war was his decision, sinking ships not built to fight.
The finest liners of our day are now painted battle-grey,
But the two small guns they mounted cause no fright.

4. Now it's true we had protection, two destroyers in our section,
Three frigates, two corvettes to ship our fifty through the waves.
One destroyer's now debris, both corvettes lost under the sea,
And her sister ship's an underwater grave.

CHORUS

5. Now we mourn our fallen brothers, pray to God there'll be no others
Blown to bits by diving demons deep below,
For the carnage and the thunder that sucked those good boys under
Happens daily, and we've three more days to go.

CHORUS TWICE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO_drlO5vSU

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: Janie
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 12:13 AM

Thanks so much for these. I've just e-mailed them to my Dad, who served as a helmsman on Texaco Tankers throughout WWII and who finally became eligible for some medical benefits at the VA hospital for his service in the Merchant Marines.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 07:24 AM

refresh for Sailor Ron

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 09:25 AM

Kat, thanks for the words, should be added to the MN perma thread.   Ron

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: GUEST,Kat
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 11:30 AM

Wow, thanks everyone! I came across this request in my own fruitless search for the lyrics, and finally had to do it the hard way, by listening to them on the CD. Some guesswork, but I think I got most of it correct. I'm so glad that I was able to help!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: CET
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 01:32 PM

It's important to remember that there is no such body as the "Merchant Marines". The term is the Merchant Marine. A person who sailed in the Merchant Marine is a merchant mariner, not a merchant marine.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 10:24 PM

Kat-

You did good bringing this song to our attention.

After watching and listening to the video I'm guessing that the song is a fairly new one done in tribute to the WW 2 Merchant Marine. Do you have any further background info?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: GUEST,Nick E
Date: 08 Jul 10 - 07:26 PM

I have heard the version Kat posted often on CJYQ from St. Johns. You can listen to that station here Radio Newfowndland
I can't tell you who the group that performs it is off the top of my head

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: GUEST,Nick E
Date: 08 Jul 10 - 07:34 PM

They changed the url some time in the recent past to this
This is Newfoundland & Labrador

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: Charley Noble
Date: 08 Jul 10 - 08:39 PM

Nick-

Good catch!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marines
From: Ref
Date: 09 Jul 10 - 06:37 PM

Nice piece!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marine
From: GUEST,C.T
Date: 28 Dec 11 - 04:04 PM

I came across this song on Steel-Shark.net - have search everywere for the lyrics. Thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marine
From: GUEST,Uncle Duke
Date: 20 Dec 12 - 05:46 PM

The name of the group is Celtae, a Neo-Celtic group from Canada. As I understand it they are no longer recording or performing together- pity, they were quite good. I crequently find myself singing this as I'm sailing the Great Lakes in my tug.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Merchant Marine
From: Charley Noble
Date: 21 Dec 12 - 10:24 AM

Excellent!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble