To Thread - Forum Home

The Mudcat Café TM
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=129581
19 messages

Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)

19 May 10 - 11:34 AM (#2909954)
Subject: Lyr Req: Dig Dig Dig Lyrics please
From: GUEST,Kath

Does anyone have the words for Dig Dig Dig, the victory song from WW2?

19 May 10 - 02:56 PM (#2910059)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig Dig Dig Lyrics please
From: Joe Offer

Hi, Kath-
I remember a single from Nervous Norvous, from about 1956. It was called simply "Dig."

Dig dig, dig arooney
Dig dig dig, dig arooney
Dig dig, dig arooney
Dig you crazy cat!

This was on the flip side of that big hit, "Transfusion." When I was in first grade, these were my favorite songs.

I suppose that's not the song you want, but my reminiscences refresh the thread and take it back up to the top of the Forum Menu.


-Joe-

But maybe this is the song you seek:
    The Dig for Victory! campaign was instigated in Britain as soon as World War II started. The government realised that the population would go hungry if the war was to last longer than a few months. The result was that formal gardens, lawns and even sports pitches were transformed into allotments, large and small, and everybody on the home front was encouraged to become a vegetable gardener.

    Prior to World War II, Britain imported over 55 million tons of food a year - much of it from Canada and the USA. After the outbreak of war, merchant vessels carrying provisions into Britain, especially those coming across the Atlantic, became targets of the German navy and food imports were under threat. At the same time the British government recognised that the merchant ships were required for the transport of troops, munitions and even aeroplanes to the theatres of war.

    In October 1939 Rob Hudson, Minister for Agriculture, announced "We want not only the big man with the plough but the little man with the spade to get busy this autumn... Let 'Dig for Victory' be the motto of everyone with a garden". It was a desperate request because farmers could only produce 30% of the country's food. But if gardens could be turned over to growing food rather than flowers, up to 25% of the necessary vegetables could be provided.

    The whole of Britain's home front was encouraged to transform private gardens into mini-allotments. Not only this, but parks, formal public gardens and various areas of unused land were dug up for planting fruit and vegetables. Kensington Gardens dug up its flowers and planted rows of cabbages and carrots. All over the country, lawns were dug and potatoes, cabbages, carrots and beans planted. Windsor Great Park was given over to wheat, and public parks, road verges, railway embankments, golf clubs, tennis courts, roofs and even window boxes were put to work.

    The plan worked though -- by 1945, around 75% of food was produced in Britain.

    A song was introduced to promote the Dig for Victory slogan.

    Dig! Dig! Dig! And your muscles will grow big
    Keep on pushing the spade
    Don’t mind the worms
    Just ignore their squirms
    And when your back aches laugh with glee
    And keep on diggin’
    Till we give our foes a Wiggin’
    Dig! Dig! Dig! to Victory"

    Dig for Victory was very successful. From a total of 815,000 allotments in 1939 the number rose to 1,400,000 by 1943.

    Source: http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history4.html#dig for victory

19 May 10 - 03:03 PM (#2910064)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig Dig Dig Lyrics please
From: Rain Dog

Is this what you are after?

Dig! Dig! Dig! And your muscles will grow big
Keep on pushing the spade
Don't mind the worms
Just ignore their squirms
And when your back aches laugh with glee
And keep on diggin'
Till we give our foes a Wiggin'
Dig! Dig! Dig! to Victory



Dig for Victory!

19 May 10 - 03:12 PM (#2910067)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig Dig Dig Lyrics please
From: Joe Offer

Here's another. I found this at the Website of the Dowling Community Garden, which began in 1943 as a victory garden in Minneapolis, Minnesota:
This jingle from a 1942 radio show "Farm and Home Hour" sums up the spirit of the day:


    Get out and dig dig dig in the sunshine
    You can make one garden grow
    Every seed you buy will gladly multiply
    Til we've overcome our foe.
    Get out and work work work for the nation
    We can keep our country free
    Help the rain above feed the ones we love
    Dig our way to victory.
    Planting corn – every day.
    Planting beans – come what may
    Turn the sod – trust in God
    And the earth will show the way.

    Get out and dig dig in the sunshine
    Every heart will feel a glow –
    As we turn the tide we'll be glad we tried
    To make ten million gardens grow.

Another slogan (which even present day gardeners should heed): "Let there be no slackers on the home front – the Victory Garden front."

20 May 10 - 07:56 PM (#2910928)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig Dig Dig Lyrics please
From: Jim Dixon

Hey, I live just a couple of miles from the Dowling Community Garden—across the river in St. Paul—and I've never heard of it! They have a beautiful web site. I'll have to take a look at the Garden someday.

16 Nov 10 - 05:00 PM (#3033844)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig Dig Dig Lyrics please
From: GUEST,Angelina Goodwin Roberts

That is actually wrong. It goes like this:


Dig, dig, dig.
Feel your muscles getting big.
Keep on pushing in the spade.
The turnip tops, potatoes and carrots
Cannot sprout without your aid.

Don't mind the worms.
Never mind the squirms
When your back aches just laugh with glee,
And keep on digging
Till we give our foes a wigging.
Dig, dig, dig for victory.
Roll your sleeves up and
Dig, dig, dig for victory.


[posted] by Angelina Goodwin Roberts

26 Mar 16 - 02:12 PM (#3781494)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: Marje

Now a new challenge: does anyone have the tune for this? An amateur theatrical group would like to use it in a production about WW2.

Marje

27 Mar 16 - 04:07 PM (#3781714)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: Jim Dixon

The US Catalog of Copyright Entries lists:

DIG! DIG! DIG! TO VICTORY
Words and music by Joe Norton & Billy Bath,
London: B. Feldman & Co., ©1940.

The British Library holds a copy of the sheet music.

It's also in a songbook called "Feldman's 46th Song & Dance Album," a copy of which is held by the University of Texas.

27 Mar 16 - 04:22 PM (#3781720)
Subject: Lyr Add:PLANT A LITTLE GARDEN IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
From: Jim Dixon

I also found this:

PLANT A LITTLE GARDEN IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD : DIG FOR VICTORY
Words by Walter Hirsch & Bert Lewis, music by Walter Leopold.
Chicago : Forster Music, ©1917 [It was reprinted in 1942.]
"Introduced and featured by Jan Garber"
First line verse: Plant a little garden in your own back yard where the green grass used to grow.
First line of chorus: I've been reading in the papers that the price of food is high.

Copies of the sheet music are held by Kansas State University, Bowling Green State University, Brown University, and the British Library.

You can hear the following recording at YouTube. The arrangement is very reminiscent of Spike Jones.

PLANT A LITTLE GARDEN IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
As recorded by Al Trace and his Musicians, 1940's

Plant a little garden in your own back yard.
There's so much that you can grow.
Plant some nice potatoes,
And some red tomatoes.
Buy a rake and hoe.
You'll have plenty for the folks and children by and by.
You should worry if the prices go up to the sky.
Take my good advice and plant a little garden in your own back yard.

Plant a little garden in your own back yard.
That's the least that you can do.
Phone your cousin Annie.
Write and tell aunt Fannie,
And your grandpa too.
I'm a little moron, but I'll help win this war.
I'll keep raisin' more an' more an' more an' ohhh—
So get a rake and hoe,
And get some seeds to sow,
And dig! Dig! Dig!

27 Mar 16 - 05:23 PM (#3781731)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: Marje

Thanks, Jim, I'll pass the info on to the people concerned.
Marje

27 Mar 16 - 05:28 PM (#3781732)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: Marje

Follow-up reply: I've now tried the Youtube link and I get it blocked with a message saying "This video is not available". Any idea why?
Marje

27 Mar 16 - 05:29 PM (#3781734)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: Thomas Stern

off topic, but for those fans of BARNABY & MR.O'MALLEY:
Barnaby Victory Garden

https://books.google.com/books?id=YUapAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=barnaby's+victory+garden&source=bl&ots=gqokXy8bRw&sig=GJwoAdJTEWxxcAJMl31d8w6DS8Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj98uex5-HLAhUD7SYKHeufDUgQ6AEIJTAC#v=onepage&q=barnaby's%20victory%20garden&f=false

Cheers, Thomas.

28 Mar 16 - 12:21 PM (#3781874)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: Marje

Another follow-up from me to say a big thank you to Jim. I found there was a copy of the song book on eBay for £5 inc p&p, and forwarded the link. The producer (of a show called Putting on the Blitz) has now bought the book and looks foward to discovering the tune! Even if it turned out to be a different song, it would almost certainly be useable, as may some of the other songs in the book.
Thanks again,
Marje

28 Mar 16 - 09:43 PM (#3781964)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: Jim Dixon

Marje: regarding that YouTube link: I tried it again and it works for me. I have a hunch it's blocked for users in the UK. (That's where you are, right?) I've encountered that problem going the other way--some videos on the BBC website are not available to me because I'm in the US.

However--I believe there are programs you can download and install on your computer that will "spoof" your IP address to make it look to the internet like you're in a different country than you really are. I tried that once, and it worked, but that was on a different computer than the one I use now, and I no longer have that program, nor do I remember its name or where I got it.

You might be able to find such a program, but I have no idea how reliable it would be--so you're on your own.

Alternatively: does this link (to Spotify) work for you?

28 Mar 16 - 09:57 PM (#3781969)
Subject: Lyr Add: PLANT A LITTLE GARDEN IN YOUR OWN BACK YA
From: Jim Dixon

Here's a set of lyrics reportedly from the sheet music, which I copied from http://movementvictoygarden.blogspot.com/2008/05/plant-little-garden-in-your-own-back.html:

1. I've been reading in the papers that the price of food is high.
"Cut the prices! Cut the prices!" is the nation's cry.
Now I've got a dandy little scheme that you all should try:
Go and raise the things you need, the things too high to buy.

CHORUS: Plant a little garden in your own back yard
Where the green grass used to grow.
Plant some nice potatoes,
And some red tomatoes.
Buy a rake and hoe.
You'll have plenty for the wife and kiddies bye and bye.
You should worry if the prices go up to the sky.
Take my advice and plant a little garden in your own backyard.

2. There's a saying in the Bible that you all have heard a heap:
Just get busy; just get busy; don't you fall asleep.
Never mind the man across the street; your own counsel keep.
The Bible says that as you sow, that is the way you'll reap. CHORUS

28 Mar 16 - 10:28 PM (#3781971)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: Jim Dixon

I found descriptions of a couple more (but I don't have a recording, or sheet music, or lyrics):

GET OUT AND DIG, DIG, DIG
"A Feature of the Blue Network's National Farm and Home Hour."
Words and music by Hunter Reynolds.
Chicago : Skokie Music Co., ©1943.

First line of text: Get out and dig dig dig in the sunshine.

Copies of the sheet music are held by University of Missouri-Kansas City; Bowling Green State University, and Brown University.

- - -

DIG-DIG-DIG : (DIG A LITTLE GARDEN FOR VICTORY)
Words and music by Milton Leeds and Billy Hayes.
New York : Bob Miller, Inc., ©1943.

[First line of verse:] Farmer's in the dell, working night and day.
[First line of chorus:] Dig, dig, dig a little garden, in your own vicinity.

A copy of the sheet music is held by Bowling Green State University.

28 Mar 16 - 10:45 PM (#3781975)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: Jim Dixon

It turns out the sheet music to PLANT A LITTLE GARDEN IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD is viewable at Indiana University's web site.

29 Mar 16 - 04:31 PM (#3782104)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: Marje

Thanks again, Jim. I'd forgotten you're in the US (I'm not) and I think that explains the inaccessible video link. The Spotify link did work for me, but having listened to that one, I think it's too American in style for a play set in London.
Anyway, I think the people involved should have enough material from the book you recommended, so thanks again for taking so much trouble.
Marje

29 Mar 16 - 05:24 PM (#3782112)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Dig for Victory (WWII garden song)
From: GUEST,.gargoyle

On the shelves is a Victory Garden Cookbook... "Night Light" or perhaps "Search Light."

It includes gasoline coupons...and a most precarious recipe using tomato leaves in a casorole.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

The NAZI were desperate....but so were the BRIT