Sea Service Music

Marine's Hymn
Eternal Father [Navy Hymn]
Semper Paratus
Anchors Aweigh
Star Spangled Banner

United States Marine Corps
Marine's Hymn

From the halls of Montezuma
to the Shores of Tripoli,
We fight our country's battles
In air, on land, and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean,
We are proud to claim the title
of United States Marines.

Our flag's unfurl'd to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far-off northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes,
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines."

-Public Domain

See history of the Marine's Hymn

United States Navy
Eternal Father [Navy Hymn]

Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
and calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

-Words by Rev. William Whiting, 1861.

Many additional verses have been written to commemorate aspects of the sea services. The more used verses celebrate Naval aviation, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard.

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky,
Be with them always in the air,
In dark'ning storms or sunlight fair.
O, Hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air.

Eternal Father, grant, we pray
To all Marines, both night and day,
The courage, honor, strength, and skill
Their land to serve, thy law fulfill;
Be thou the shield forevermore
From every peril to the Corps.
-J.E. Seim, 1966

Eternal Father, Lord of hosts,
Watch o'er the men who guard our coasts.
Protect them from the raging seas
And give them light and life and peace.
Grant them from thy great throne above
The shield and shelter of thy love.
-Author and date unknown

See Navy Hymn for history.

Anchors Aweigh

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!

Anchors Away, my boys, Anchors Aweigh.
Farewell to foreign shores, 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.

Blue of the Mighty Deep; Gold of God's Sun
Let these colors be till all of time be done, done, done,
On seven seas we learn Navy's stern call:
Faith, Courage, Service true, with Honor, Over Honor, Over All.

Lyrics - CAPT Alfred H. Miles, USN, 1906.
Anchors Aweigh is not an official Navy song.

United States Coast Guard
Semper Paratus

From Aztec shore to Arctic zone, to Europe and Far East.
The Flag is carried by our ships in times of war and peace;
And never have we struck it yet in spite of foe-men's might,
Who cheered our crews and cheered again for showing how to fight.

SURVEYOR and NARCISSUS, The EAGLE and DISPATCH,
The HUDSON and the TAMPA, the names are hard to match;
From Barrow's shores shore to Paraguay, Great Lakes or ocean's wave,
The Coast Guard fought through storms and winds, To punish or to save

Aye, we've been "Always Ready", To do to fight, or die
Write glory to the shield we wear, In letters to the sky.
To sink the foe or save the maimed, Our mission and our pride,
We'll carry on 'til Kingdom Come, Ideals for which we've died.

Chorus:
So here's the Coast Guard marching song, We sing on land or sea.
Through surf and storm and howling gale, High shall our purpose be.
"Semper Paratus" is our guide, Our fame, our glory too,
To fight to save or fight and die! Aye! Coast Guard we are for you!

-Captain Francis Saltus Van Boskerck, USCG, 1927.
Words and Music Copyright by Sam Fox Publishing Co, Inc.

See Semper Paratus for history.

The United States of America
The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Lyrics - Francis Scott Key, 1814