Text:
(Each line repeated once by leader and once by platoon)
Around her head, she wore a yellow ribbon
She wore it in the springtime, the merry month of may
And if you asked her why the hell she wore it
She wore it for that young Marine so far, far away.
Far away
Far away
She wore it for that young Marine so far, far away
Around the block, she pushed a baby carriage
She pushed it for that young Marine so far, far away.
And if you asked her why the heck she pushed it
She pushed it for that young Marine so far, far away.
Far away
Far away
She pushed it for that young Marine so far, far away
(3rd verse non PG- song ends after this verse)
Behind the door, her daddy kept a shotgun
He kept it in the springtime, in the merry month of May
And if you asked him why the hell he kept it
He kept it just to blow that young Marine’s ass away
Far away
Far away
He kept it just to blow that young Marine’s ass away
(3rd verse PG- song continues to verse 4)
Behind the door, her daddy kept a shotgun
He kept it in the springtime, in the merry month of May
And if you asked him why the hell he kept it
He kept it for that young Marine so far, far away
Far away
Far away
He kept it for that young Marine so far, far away
(4th verse, slowing)
Around his grave, she laid the pretty flowers
She laid them in the springtime in the merry month of May
And if you ask her why the hell she laid them
She laid them for that young Marine so far, far away
Far away
Far away
She laid them for that young Marine so far, far away
Context:
“This is my favorite jody that I learned in high school in JROTC. It’s passed down by a Prior, which is a Cadet who has been in the program at least for a year, so she was like a year older than me, I was a freshmen and she was a sophomore. And it was her favorite jody and it’s, according to her, originally a Marine jody. Jodies are- I guess I should explain what Jodies are. Jodies are songs you sing while marching, kind of sing, they’re kind of sing songy, but they’re yelling and they’re call and response. So you yell a line and the platoon repeats a line and it’s while marching. A lot of them are story centered, so I want to share one that’s story centered. I love this jody because it’s sad, it tells a story.
“I said young Marine, but when we would say it around our senior Chief, we would have to say Sailor because we weren’t allowed to sing Marines jodies because we were in the Navy unit. And each of the lines is repeated back, I just did it straight through”
“And then the third stanza, there’s two versions. Also, I said hell, but we said heck when instructors were around. And the third one, there’s two endings, one is non PG and one is PG.
Analysis:
The jody itself is a chant, meant to (in the case of this informant) draw people together within their platoon. Especially as the informant mentions how she was taught this by a classmate in the grade above her, one can see this folk song as a form of mentorship. Learned from the mouth of a more senior individual, the jody is passed between them and gives a sense of identity within the group. The informant even mentions how important the specific branch is. She wasn’t allowed to sing this as a Marine jody normally because they were the Navy unit and therefore could only sing Navy songs. Specificity is important to the practice of this jody even though the rest of the lyrics are unchanged by a change in branch or between platoons.
Additionally, we can see the influence of some of Olrick’s epic laws within the narrative. Repetition of the chorus and of structures make the stanzas easier to learn, and the chorus itself has three lines. Most ‘scenes’ are between the woman and the soldier, with one between the soldier and the woman’s father. All detail how two characters relate to each other, keeping the story straightforward and in line with the expectations of tales and folk songs.