Navy Blue Mountain Son

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Born up high where the Smokies climb
True hillbilly stock from the dawn of time
Appalachian blood running fierce and bold
He was seventeen years when the lie was told
Signed his name to the Navy roll
To leave them mountain ridges for a deep-sea patrol

[Verse 2]
They threw him in the pool at the training base
Said Show us you can swim or you'll leave this place
He went straight to the bottom like a stone-cold lead
But he didn't give up and he didn't drop dead
He kicked off the floor just to catch a breath
Going up and down, racing sudden death
Kicked across that pool till he passed the test!

[Chorus]
He was an Electrician’s Mate, a mountain son
Three steel ships sank under his gun!
Never learned to swim but he ruled the sea
A Chief Petty Officer with a GED
Yeah, the anchor dropped but the man stayed true
A twenty-year pension in the Navy blue!

[Verse 3]
He sailed the wide world but he kept his plan
Earned his stripes and he made a man
Then they sent him up north to the Illinois plain
To recruit the next boys for the wind and rain
Then he traded the sea for a Peoria fire
In a blazing steel mill as a spark-man for hire
Wired up the furnace where the iron glows bright

[Chorus]
He was an Electrician’s Mate, a mountain son
Three steel ships sank under his gun!
Never learned to swim but he ruled the sea
A Chief Petty Officer with a GED
Yeah, the anchor dropped but the man stayed true
A twenty-year pension in the Navy blue!

[Bridge]
He bought a patch of land by a freshwater lake
For the sister and the boy and the memories they'd make
He’d sit on the dock where the deep waters roll
He never dipped a toe, but he gave us his soul
He watched us dive in where the currents run free
Safe on the shore of his history

[Guitar Solo]

[Verse 4]
The boy went to college and the kids grew tall
The hillbilly sailor who conquered it all
From the North Carolina heights to the Illinois mud
The grit of the Navy in the family blood
He built us a bridge out of copper and steel

[Chorus]
He was an Electrician’s Mate, a mountain son
Three steel ships sank under his gun!
Never learned to swim but he ruled the sea
A Chief Petty Officer with a GED
Yeah, the anchor dropped but the man stayed true
A twenty-year pension in the Navy blue!

[Outro]
Yeah, three ships down!
And he never learned to swim!
But he brought us to the shore!