Ahhh, Wogs.
 

 
Every Mariner…before becoming a Mariner…starts out as a Wog. Time spent as a Wog gives both the Wog and the Mariners an opportunity to see if the Mariner-Wannabe is a fit for our disorganization. We recently voted a handful of new guys into the wonderful world of Woghood. The above picture captured just a few of their scruffy mugs.

Who are these guys? Fifers, drummers … well I could tell you all about them, but sometimes it is just more fun to listen.

Below are a couple of clips from our gathering at Dan’s Firehouse last weekend. The first, sung by one of the wogs, is a takeoff of and old drinking song called Fathom the Bowl. This version, written by Chris Lussier, another wog, is called Don’t Play the Trombone and has words like…

play fifes from grenadilla
cocobolo for sticks
and drink apple cider until you get sick
and sing lots of chanteys until you will moan
but please at a muster don’t play the trombone

I’ve just included a clip here since the whole song would require me to put up a parental warning and I’m just not willing to do that. If you want to hear the song in its entirety, you’ll just have to become a Wog.
 
The second clip is of another Wog playing a tune called Calliope House on the Mandolin, while a couple of us back him up.
 

 
I like both clips because they represent the type of musical diversity that feeds into our fife and drum repertoire. I also like them because it peels back the curtain on the type of loose fun we have at Mariner rehearsals.

 

 Don't Play the Trombone: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Calliope House: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download