They were first organized in Sheboygan, Wisconsin in 1946. The original members of the group were Janet Ertel (1913-November 4, 1988), Carol Bushman (her sister-in-law), Dorothy Schwartz, and Jinny Osborn (or Lockard) (April 25, 1927-May 19, 2003). In 1952, Lynn Evans replaced Schwartz, and in 1953, Margie Needham replaced Osborn (who was having a baby), though Osborn later returned to the group. Nancy Overton also was a member of the group at a later time. Originally they sang folk music in the style of The Weavers, but eventually changed to a harmonizing style of the type known as barbershop harmony. Part of this change seems to be influenced by Osborn's father.
Jinny Osborn was born in Seattle, Washington. She was born Virginia Cole, the daughter of O. H. "King" Cole, who was president of the Barbershop Harmony Society (then known as SPEBSQSA), and Katherine Flack.
After performing locally in Sheboygan, they went on Arthur Godfrey's radio program, Talent Scouts in 1949.They went on to feature status on Godfrey's daily program, and then went on to make a number of recordings for Columbia Records.
In 1953, Godfrey's music director and orchestra leader, Archie Bleyer, founded Cadence Records. He signed a number of Godfrey regulars and former regulars, including the Chordettes, who had a number of hit records for Cadence.
Their biggest hit was Mr. Sandman in 1954. Archie Bleyer himself is on that record along with the group, Bleyer stripping the sound down the better not to clutter the girls' voices. They also hit the top twenty with 1958's "Lollipop," and also charted with a vocal version of the themes from television's Zorro (1959) and the film Never on Sunday (1961). Other hits for the girls included "Eddie My Love," "Born to Be With You," and "Lay Down Your Arms" in 1956 and "Just Between You and Me" in 1957.
Janet Ertel married Bleyer in 1954. Her daughter Jackie married another Cadence recording star, Phil Everly of The Everly Brothers. She died of cancer in 1988.
The Chordettes appeared on American Bandstand August 5, 1957, kicking off the first episode of the show over the ABC Television Network.
In 1961, Jinny Osborn left the group, and they were unable to find a replacement with whom they were happy, leading to a breakup.
The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.
Jinny Osborn (by that time Jinny Janis) died in 2003
Lay Down Your Arms
The Chordettes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As handsome as can be
But suddenly they sent him
away across the sea
So patiently I waited
until his leave was due
Then wrote and said "My darling,
Come to the station
Jump from the train
March at the double
down lover's lane
Then in the glen where the roses en-twine
Lay down your arms (Lay down your arms)
Lay down your arms and surrender to mine
A soldier is a soldier
And when he's on parade
An order is an order
And has to be obeyed
You've got to do your duty
wherever you may be
And now you're under orders
To hurry home to me
Come to the station
Jump from the train
March at the double
down lover's lane
Then in the glen where the roses en-twine
Lay down your arms (Lay down your arms)
Lay down your arms and surrender to mine
The girl who loves a soldier
Is either sad or gray
'Cause first of all he's with her
And then he's far away
But soldiers have their duty
To answer to the call
And that is why I'm calling
The loudest of them all
Come to the station
Jump from the train
March at the double
down lover's lane
Then in the glen where the roses en-twine
Lay down your arms (Lay down your arms)
Lay down your arms and surrender to mine
The Chordettes’ song “Lay Down Your Arms” is a love song about a woman who is waiting for her soldier sweetheart to return from overseas. The song is about a woman who tells her lover, who is a soldier, to come to her and “lay down his arms” and surrender to her love. The song is a metaphor for the idea that when her lover returns from war, he should give up his military life and surrender to the love of the woman he left behind. The woman is willing to wait for her lover to return, but only if he is willing to give up his military life and stay with her.
The song tells the story of a woman who loves a soldier during wartime. The lyrics convey the longing and hope that a soldier will return home to be with his loved one. The song conveys the difficult balance between duty and love, and the hope that love will win. The woman in the song knows that the soldier has a duty to his country, but she also wants him to lay down his arms and surrender to her emotionally.
The song emphasizes the idea that love can conquer all, even the demands of war. The woman in the song is asking her lover to come home and choose her over his military duty. Ultimately, the song is about the power of love and the willingness of a woman to wait for her soldier sweetheart.
Line by Line Meaning
My sweetheart is a soldier
The person I love is a soldier
As handsome as can be
He is very attractive
But suddenly they sent him away across the sea
He was ordered to leave to serve overseas
So patiently I waited until his leave was due
I waited for him to have time off
Then wrote and said 'My darling, I'll tell you what to do'
I sent a letter saying I had a plan
Come to the station
Meet me at the train station
Jump from the train
Get off the train quickly
March at the double down lover's lane
Walk quickly together in a romantic path
Then in the glen where the roses en-twine
In a beautiful valley where roses grow together
Lay down your arms (Lay down your arms)
Stop being a soldier (stop fighting)
Lay down your arms and surrender to mine
Stop being a soldier and come be with me
A soldier is a soldier
A soldier's duty is to fight
And when he's on parade
When he is marching in a ceremony
An order is an order
Orders must be obeyed
And has to be obeyed
It is necessary to follow orders
You've got to do your duty wherever you may be
It is necessary to do your job no matter where you are
And now you're under orders to hurry home to me
You have been given orders to come home to me
The girl who loves a soldier is either sad or gray
Women who love soldiers are often unhappy
'Cause first of all he's with her
But then he has to leave to go serve
And then he's far away
And he is away for a long time
But soldiers have their duty to answer to the call
Soldiers have a responsibility to serve their country
And that is why I'm calling the loudest of them all
That's why I want you to stop being a soldier and come be with me
Come to the station
Meet me at the train station
Jump from the train
Get off the train quickly
March at the double down lover's lane
Walk quickly together in a romantic path
Then in the glen where the roses en-twine
In a beautiful valley where roses grow together
Lay down your arms (Lay down your arms)
Stop being a soldier (stop fighting)
Lay down your arms and surrender to mine
Stop being a soldier and come be with me
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: AKE GERHARD, LEON LAND, PADDY ROBERTS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@rockake
"Lay Down Your Arms" was revued in Billboard on September, 8th, 1956.
Lay Down Your Arms..............................87
CADENCE 1299-Heavy competition in
store for this version of the British hit
from the original Anne Shelton and the
Russ Morgan versions, both "Spotlighted"
above. However, the girls are still ri-
ding the charts and their harmony
rendition should snare some coin.
@sauquoit13456
Lynn Evans Mand, the lead singer of the vocal harmony group the Chordettes, passed away on February 6th, 2020 at the age of 95...
She joined the group in 1952 when their lead singer could not make a show in Mand’s hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. She was asked to step in and was invited to join the group. After the Chordettes disbanded in the 1960s, Mand moved to Long Island and became a special education teacher...
Between 1954 and 1961 the quartet had thirteen records on the Top 100 chart, four made the Top 10 with one reaching #1, "Mr. Sandman", for 2 weeks on Billboard's Best Sellers in Stores, Most Played by Jockeys, and Most Played on Juke Boxes charts...
Besides "Mr. Sandman", their three other Top 10 records were "Born to Be With You" {#5 in 1956}, "Just Between You and Me" {#8 in 1957}, and "Lollipop"* {#2 for 1 week in 1958}...
May Ms. Mand R.I.P.
* The week "Lollipop" was at #2, the #1 record for that week was "Tequila" by the Champs...
And from the 'For What It's Worth' department, their covered version of "Lay Down Your Arms" peaked at #16 in 1956...
@sauquoit13456
On this day in 1956 {September 21st} Anne Shelton's "Lay Down Your Arms" reached #1 {for 4 weeks} on the United Kingdom's Singles chart... Eight days later on September 29th, 1956 it entered Billboard's Top 100 chart; eventually it peaked at #59 and spent 8 weeks on the Top 100... And also on Sept. 29th the Chordettes' covered version entered the Top 100; their version reached #16... Anne Shelton passed away on July 31st, 1994 at the age of 70... R.I.P. Ms. Shelton...
@ChordettesFan325
I ❤️ this song, it gets stuck in my head a lot.
@rockake
Originally recorded as "Ann-Caroline" by Swedish singer Elsy Lindgren backed by Nils Weingards ork on January, 12th, 1955. This was the very first Swedish song to chart in US. How it made its way to England, I don´t know, but it was a very big hit in UK for Anne Shelton and a modest hit in US where it was quite a big hit for The Chordettes.
@rockake
"Lay Down Your Arms" was revued in Billboard on September, 8th, 1956.
Lay Down Your Arms..............................87
CADENCE 1299-Heavy competition in
store for this version of the British hit
from the original Anne Shelton and the
Russ Morgan versions, both "Spotlighted"
above. However, the girls are still ri-
ding the charts and their harmony
rendition should snare some coin.
@donodoco
great!
@ChantellieFay
<3
@davidadams188
This song featured in a BBC series does anyone know the name of the series.
@sayagg
Lipstick On Your Collar!
@matteus__
This isn't Pearl Jam