U.S. Drill Sergeant Field Recordings - Topic, July 11, 2014
Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises
Let 'em Blow, Let 'em Blow · U.S. Drill Sergeant Field
Recordings
50 Workout Cadences of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marines
℗ 2011 Sammy_Cadenza Records
Released on: 2011-08-30
**** Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series that presents examples of the United States military cadence entitled "Four Winds" (also known as "Let The Four Winds Blow" and "Let 'Em Blow. Let 'Em Blow".
Part III showcases another sound file of a "Let 'Em Blow Let Em Blow" cadence and presents my transcription of that cadence and two other examples of that cadence from other United States military forces besides the US army and the US navy.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/11/united-states-army-examples-of-four.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I presents information about the 1955 New Orleans Rhythm & Blues song "Let The Four Winds Blow" that is the source of these United States military cadences. Part I also showcases an embedded sound file of a United States army version of that "Four Winds" cadence as well as my transcription of that sound file. This post also provides links to three YouTube videos that feature other army versions of that cadence.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/11/let-em-blow-let-em-blow-navy-cadence.htmlfor Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II presents information about the 1955 New Orleans Rhythm & Blues song "Let The Four Winds Blow" that is the source of these military cadence. Part II also showcases a United States navy version of that cadence along with the lyrics which the video's publisher shared for that version. Selected comments from that video's discussion thread are also included in that post.
**** The content of this post is presented for folkloric. cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Dave Bartholomew and Fats Domino for composing the 1955 R&B song "Let The Four Winds Blow" that is the source song for these United States military cadences. Thanks to all those who composed these cadences and thanks to the publisher of this embedded video for featuring it on YouTube.
Thanks also to all those who serve honorably in the United States armed services.
Happy Veteran's Day!
**** LYRICS FOR THIS VERSION OF "LET 'EM BLOW. LET 'EM BLOW" CADENCE [The platoon repeats each line that the drill sergeant sings]
SGT Sandwich PLAYS, 2016 "US Navy SEALs: Let 'em blow, Let 'em blow (Let 'em blow, let 'em blow) Let those nukes, nukes explode (Let those nukes, nukes explode) From the East from the West (From the East from the West) A SEAL team member is the best (A SEAL team member is the best) Hooyah (Hooyah) Aha (Aha) Hooyah (Hooyah) Aha (Aha) Ahh (Ahh)
-snip- This version is very similar to my transcription of the embedded sound file that is given above.
This pancocojams post showcases versions of the United States military cadences entitled "Here We Go Again" and "Hey You Knuckleheads".
This post also post provides information about the Baltimore Club song "Hey You Knuckleheads" and the children's action songs "Hey You Knucklehead and "Hey Alafia".
The content of this post is presented for cultural and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of the military cadence song file that is featured in this post.
-snip-
Portions of this post were previously published in the June 2018 pancocojams post entitled "The Meaning/s Of The Military Cadence Phrase "Pick Up The Step" & Some Examples Of Military Cadences That Include That Phrase" http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-meanings-of-military-cadence-phrase.html.
****
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE: US army JROTC : here we go again
U.S Army Jrotc, Published on Aug 7, 2016
-snip-
Jrotc = Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
****
LYRICS FOR THE MILITARY CADENCE "HERE WE GO AGAIN"
Here we go again (Example #1) transcription of the sound file given above
Same old stuff again
Marching down the avenue
Six more weeks and we’ll be through
I’ll be glad and so will you
I won't have to look at you
You won't have to look at me
Am I right or wrong
[You're right!]
Are we weak or strong
[We're strong!]
Sound off
[1, 2]
Sound off
[3, 4]
Break it on down now
1-2-3-4
1-2-3 4.
-snip-
There are a number of different examples of the "Here We Go Again" military cadence online.
All military cadences have a call & response pattern- the group repeats the line chanted by the caller and chants the lines given in brackets.
The words "go left go right go pick up the steps" are found in some versions of the military cadence "Jody Boy", as chanted with the same tune in this YouTube sound file https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IXXhd8VRSU :
"Your left, your left
Your left , righta left
Your military left
Your left, your right
now pick up the step
Your left your right your le--eh -eft"."
** HERE WE GO AGAIN (Example #2)
Here we go again Same old stuff again
Marching down the avenue
Few more days and we'll be through
I won't have to look at you
Ugly ugly ugly you
You won’t have to look at me
Sexy sexy sexy me *
Am I right or wrong
(you’re right)
Are we weak or strong
(we're strong)
https://sites.google.com/site/herrmcguire/cadences/here-we-go-again (no publishing date/ retrieved on October 16, 2025
-snip-
This may only be the partial lyrics for this cadence, including the caller's words that are repeated by the rest of the soldiers.
* I've also come across the words "Ugly ugly ugly you/pretty pretty pretty me"
****
THE MILITARY CADENCE "ALL YOU KNUCKLEHEADS"
"HEY YOU KNUCKLEHEADS (Example #1)
Hey you knuckleheads,
(reply: Hey you knuckleheads)
You dumb dumb knuckleheads,
(reply: You dumb dumb knuckleheads)
You crazy knuckleheads
(reply: You crazy knuckleheads)
Marching down this avenue
(reply: Marching down this avenue)
...(number, starting with ten) more miles and we'll be through
(reply:... more miles and we'll be through)
Are we going strong?
(reply: we're strong)
Am I right or wrong?
(reply: You're right)
Sound off
(reply: One, two)
Round off
(reply: Three, four)
Turn em all around and bring em back down now
(reply: 4,3,2,1 4,3,2,1)
Keep repeating that, changing the number of miles each time, going down from ten to zero =)
**** HEY YOU KNUCKLE HEADS (Example #3) Hey you knuckle heads(squad repeats),
dumb dumb knuckle heads (squad repeats),
you crazy knuckleheads (squad repeats),
marching down this avenue(squad repeats),
5 more miles and then we're through (squad repeats),
"sound off" (squad) " 1,2"
"round off" (squad) "3,4"
turn around and bring it all back and (all) 4,3,2,1*pause*
43,21
repeat in sequence
"5 more
miles"
"4 more miles"
"3 more miles"
"2 more miles"
"point 8 of a mile" -Steven Whitelock, May 21, 2015 https://www.facebook.com/groups/195282927259764/ "Air Cadets Songs!" [This comment was posted before these lyrics: "song to sing on bus journeys"]
****
BALTIMORE CLUB SONG - HEY YOU KNUCKLEHEADS"
The Baltimore Club song "Hey You Knuckleheads" was recorded by Big Ria in 1996. That song uses the tune and the first portion of the "All You Knuckleheads" military cadence. That rap song is performed in a call * response pattern and consists of names of certain streets in Black neighborhoods of Baltimore, Maryland.
**** EXAMPLES OF CHILDREN'S SONGS THAT ARE ADAPTATIONS OF THE MILITARY CADENCES "HEY YOU KNUCKLEHEADS"
HEY YOU KNUCKLEHEADS
Caller - Hey you Knuckleheads
Group- Hey you knuckleheads Caller - Let’s sing, you knuckleheads Group- Let’s sing, you knuckleheads Caller - Marching down the avenue Group -Marching down the avenue Caller – No more miles so we are through Group- No more miles so we are through Caller - Go left, go left Group -Go left, go left Caller- Go left, right, left Group- Go left, right, left Caller - Go left, go right Go pick up the sticks Go left, go right, go left [clap clap] Group- Go left, go right Go pick up the sticks Go left, go right, go left [clap clap]
*The caller can choose any number of miles from 5 to 10. -snip- My daughter Tazi Hughes learned "All You Knuckleheads" in the summer of 1996/1997 when she was a Camp counselor at Lillian Taylor (summer) Camp near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
I think it's likely that a Lillian Taylor camp song counselor may have been familiar with the Baltimore Club song "Hey You Knuckle Heads" and that record may have revived that counselor's memory of the "Hey You Knucklehead" military cadence. **** "HEY ALAFIA" - AN ADAPTED VERSION OF THE CHILDREN'S SONG "HEY YOU KNUCKLEHEAD" After my daughter Tazi shared with me the Lillian Taylor Camp version of "Hey You Knuckleheads" (see directly above), I changed the words “All You Knuckleheads” to “Hey Alafia*” and retained most of the rest of the song's words and their accompanying movements. Tazi and I then taught that song to the children’s game song group called Alafia Children’s Ensemble that we had founded and led from 1997 to 2004 in two locations in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area as well as special programming sessions in a number of mostly Black communities in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, I don't have any sound files or videos of Alafia Children's Ensemble groups or special programming sessions.
* “Alafia” (ah-LAH-fee-ah) is a Nigeria, West Africa (Hausa language and Yoruba language word that is usually translated in English as “Hello” or “Welcome”. Because we used the word “Alafia” as a group name, when another group sings this song, that group could change the word “Alafia” to the name of their group -for instance, “Hey, Dilworth” [school name] or the name of the city where the children live.
Caller - Hey Alafia
Group- Hey Alafia
Caller - Let’s sing, Alafia
Group- Let’s sing, Alafia
Caller - Marching down the avenue
Group - Marching down the avenue
Caller - Five* more miles and we’ll be through
Group- Five more miles and we’ll be through
Caller -Go left, go left
Group -Go left, go left
Caller-Go left, right, left
Group- Go left, right, left
Caller - Go left, go right
Go pick up the sticks
Go left, go right, go left [clap clap]
Group- Go left, go right
Go pick up the sticks
Go left, go right, go left [clap clap]
Repeat from the beginning, counting down to “no more miles”
**
PERFORMANCE INSTRUCTIONS FOR "HEY ALAFIA"
The group forms a vertical line behind the designated caller. The caller moves in a zig zag line around the performance space.
The group repeats the caller’s words as they follow the caller’s movements:
When the caller sings the number of miles (for instance, “Five more miles and we’ll be through”), she [or he] holds up the number of fingers with her (his) hand/s.
When the caller sings, “go left, go left”, she (he) steps to the left.
When the caller sings, “go left, right, left”, she (he) steps to the left, then to the right, and then to the left.
When teaching this song, the caller explains that the line “go left, go, right, go pick up the sticks” is tricky, and the group has to wait until after she (or he) claps two times at the end before they sing their part.
When the caller sings, “go, left, go right, go pick up the sticks”, the caller moves to the left, then moves to the right, and then bends down and imitates picking up sticks off the ground.
On the line “no more miles so we are through”, the caller makes a zero sign with her (his) hands.
Note: When my daughter Tazi teaches this chant, she elongates the word "avenue" so that it's pronounced something like "avenuuue".
