Anchors Aweigh
by
Alfred H. Miles
Original Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Stand Navy down the field, sails
set to the sky.
We'll never change our course, so
Army you steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll up the score, Navy, Anchors
Aweigh.
Sail Navy down the field and sink
the Army, sink the Army Grey.
[Verse 2]
Get underway, Navy, Decks cleared
for the fray,
We'll hoist true Navy Blue So
Army down your Grey-y-y-y.
Full speed ahead, Navy; Army
heave to,
Furl Black and Grey and Gold and
hoist the Navy, hoist the Navy
Blue
[Verse 3]
Blue of the Seven Seas; Gold of
God's great sun
Let these our colors be Till all
of time be done-n-n-ne,
By Severn shore we learn Navy's
stern call:
Faith, courage, service true With
honor over, honor over all.
Revised Lyrics
by George D. Lottman
It is Verse 2 that is most widely
sung.
[Verse 1]
Stand, Navy, out to sea, Fight
our battle cry;
We'll never change our course, So
vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll out the TNT, Anchors Aweigh.
Sail on to victory
And sink their bones to Davy
Jones, hooray!
[Verse 2]
Anchors Aweigh, my boys, Anchors
Aweigh.
Farewell to college joys, we sail
at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night on shore,
drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more. Here's
wishing you a happy voyage home.
Etymology
The word "weigh" in
this sense comes from the archaic
word meaning to heave, hoist or
raise. "Aweigh" means
that that action has been
completed. The anchor is aweigh
when it is pulled from the
bottom. This event is duly noted
in the ship's log.
History
Lieut. Charles A. Zimmermann,
USN, a graduate of the Peabody
Conservatory in Baltimore, had
been selected as the bandmaster
of the Naval Academy Band in 1887
at the age of 26. His father,
Charles Z. Zimmermann, had played
in the band during the Civil War
years. Early in his career,
Lieut. Zimmermann started the
practice of composing a march for
each graduating class. By 1892,
"Zimmy", as he was
affectionately known by the
midshipmen, became so popular
that he was presented with a gold
medal by that year's class. More
gold medals followed as
Zimmermann wrote a march for each
succeeding class
In 1906, Lieut. Zimmerman was
approached by Midshipman First
Class Alfred Hart Miles with a
request for a new march. As a
member of the Class of 1907,
Miles and his classmates
"were eager to have a piece
of music that would be inspiring,
one with a swing to it so it
could be used as a football
marching song, and one that would
live forever."
Supposedly, with the two men
seated at the Naval Academy
Chapel organ, Zimmermann composed
the tune and Miles set the title
and wrote to two first stanzas in
November 1906. This march was
played by the band and sung by
the brigade at the 1906 Army-Navy
football game later that month,
and for the first time in several
seasons, Navy won. This march,
Anchors Aweigh, was subsequently
dedicated to the Academy Class of
1907 and adopted as the official
song of the U.S. Navy. The
concluding stanza was written by
Midshipman Royal Lovell, Class of
1926.
Epilogue
In the 1916 Lucky Bag, the
Academy yearbook, the class
prepared a surprise for Lieut.
Zimmermann. On page one was an
impressive photo of the
bandmaster in his full dress
uniform, and on the next, a
moving tribute to his devotion to
the Naval Academy. Unfortunately,
Lieut. Zimmermann did not live to
enjoy this tribute. He became ill
and died suddenly on Sunday
morning, Jan. 16, 1916, of a
brain hemorrhage. He was 54 years
old. He was given a full military
funeral, with midshipmen serving
as pallbearers, and classes were
suspended so the entire regiment
could attend when he was buried
in St. Mary's Cemetery on Jan.
19, 1916. Later, his body was
moved to the Naval Academy
cemetery where a granite
monument, a gift from the classes
of 1916 and 1917 was erected, as
says the inscription on the base,
"by his Midshipmen
Friends."
Alfred H. Miles, the lyricist,
continued his Navy career and
retired as a Captain.
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