WWII songs about working women?

[ShooShooBaby]

tomorrow in my Music Fundamentals for Elementary Teachers class i am presenting a short lesson. I'm planning a cross-curricular lesson using music to talk about women's roles during WWII. I'm looking for interesting songs that would appeal to 5th graders, so anything novel is GOOD. so far i'm planning on using "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet" by Ella Mae Morse, which is sung from the perspective of a riveter. i might use "Corns for my Country" by the Andrews Sisters, which is about the USO. any other suggestions? anything about women in the military would be good! nothing too obscure - i need to be able to find it online (unless you want to get on AIM and share it with me, of course!) the things my discussion questions will be things like, what instruments the students can hear, what is the topic of the song, what makes it unique, that sort of thing.

(and yes, of course i'll be dressing up in my rosie coveralls for my presentation )

thanks in advance!!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Sounds like a fun presentation! While it's not a recording, the kids might get a kick out of the official Women's Army Corps Songbook, which includes all the old Army favorites along with a special section of WAC-specific tunes, including "A WAC Is A Soldier Too!", "When You See A Girl In Khaki," and my personal favorite, "Oh Me, Oh My, That Ain't GI:"

Once her Mommie made her bed,
Cleaned her clothes and buttered her bread
And her fav'rite dress was red
Oh me! Oh my! That ain't G.I,
Then she came to camp one day
Quickly learned the WAC-y way,
Underwear cafe au lait,
Oh me! Oh my! Strictly G.I.
Said the WAC to the new recruit,
"Hi-ya kid, you're sure a beaut! (Spoken)
Short hair won't make you so cute."
Oh me! Oh my! Gotta be G.I.
In the mess hall she now stands
Buried 'neath the pots and pans,
Getting pretty dishpan hands,
K.P. Oh my! Gotta Be G.I.
Hats and shoes and shirts don't fit
Girdle bunches when you sit,
Come on, rookie, you can't quit,
Just heave a sigh, and be G.I.

 

[ShooShooBaby]

thanks, lizzie!

that link looks great! when i'm teaching i want to do really in-depth lessons, and something like that would be great. it would be fun to have recordings of all those songs!

i think for this one i'm just going to focus on factory workers since it's only 10 minutes long. i bought a copy of "Rosie the Riveter" off of amazon.com so i'll use that and the Ella Mae Morse song. i'm going to bring in some of the new color library of congress pictures to pass around, and of course a "rosie" postcard!

 

[Snookie]

On iTunes there's a song called Rosie the Riveter. Different versions available.

Also, Jonathan Stout does "Gotta Do Some War Work", but the lyrics are little hard to understand and not totally relevant. Mentions working or fighting, factory work or music, but not women specifically. Also on iTunes.

Sounds fun, good luck!

 

[Snookie]

Never mind, I guess you got it already!

 

[ShooShooBaby]

Never mind, I guess you got it already!

we were posting at the same time!!

i'm gonna focus on factory workers for this lesson... i realized anything more would be too much to squeeze in to 10 minutes. thanks for the suggestions!