Eat Up

by Pat Darnell

I been to the depression chamber
I been lower than a grass root
I was ground and dappled
Like pepper on a salad
Till my daddy give me fruit

He’d croon up to our rooms
‘Now hear this; ‘Now hear this
‘Sweepers man your brooms
‘Clean sweep down fore and aft’

[Twheeee ieee wheet]

‘Clean sweep down before we eat!’

This is so good
This is so good that
This is so good that the
The Navy eats it
Yeah, the Navy eats it up

I am tired from aches and pains
I been chippin’ paint all morn’
Hidin’ my chaw in my cheek till
O’er the horn:
... swells: ‘Twelve bells’

I spit a wad in the leak...
Yeah I spat t’bacco
To stop the leak
Until I return

This is so bad
This is so bad that
This is so bad that it’s good

So good, the Navy eats it
Yeah, the Navy eats it up... They do--
The entire floatin’ Navy
At twelve noon, eats it up!

It keeps us all afloat
How we care for our boat
We steam to Tuscany and Omaha
We visit the China Sea
But what keeps us on our feet
Is three squares a day we eat

Eat up old boy
Eat up skullduggery
Scrape and grind; repeat ten times
The hull you plug her ye’
But at noon clean your plate
... you see
Eat up and clean your plate
The Navy cannot wait