‘NEVER MIND’
These are the words for a song written during the Great War (1914-18) by the girls of Light & Co.’s Munition Works located in Circus Street, Brighton.
It went on sale and the proceeds were used to provide comforts for British wounded soldiers in Brighton Hospitals.
Click on the photograph to open a large view in a new window and then click again to magnify.
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Do you know the tune that accompanied this song?
Hello Linda. No sorry, I don’t know the accompanying tune. Sadly Dora passed away several years ago, but I am hoping that someone may come up with the answer.
Hello, Linda, and Peter. It’s brilliant to see this. Didn’t it become a famous Music-Hall song? I can hear the tune of the chorus very well in my head, could sing it to you (badly), but don’t know how to convey it to you! It’s sort of shouted by everyone, really loud and rowdily, as in “Nev-AAHH MIND!”
My Grandmother Nellie Piper worked here and I can certainly remember my mother singing this to me.I have a pic of her and the girls at this time.
Hello Karen Would you be able to scan your photo and add to the site as I would love to see if Dora is in it?
You can see the pressing urgency and the hope in this lovely piece of writing. At that time my dad would have been a teenager in Brighton so long ago. Years later I worked in Circus Street at the Brighton Municipal Market which was a wholesale fruit and vegetable market. I wonder if the site was the one that was where the munitions were made. Mike Peirson
That’s great. Shows the wonderful spirit that prevailed. Where is/was Circus St, Brighton? What’s there now, please? David
There was a WW1 trench song called “Never Mind”. The munition girls may have been inspired by the original. The following website says that the chorus was sung to the tune of “If You’re Happy And You Know It, Clap Your Hands”. It fits quite nicely! http://www.kingswoodresources.org.uk/history/20century/ww1/songs.htm
If you would be happy to share any family memories about the munitions factory for the Great War exhibition at Brighton Museum this summer, I’d love to hear them. It can be difficult tracing the work that women did in Brighton and Hove during the Great War. I can be reached on 01273 292845 (Brighton Museum, Local History).
I was researching WW2 songs when I came across this. It’s wonderful. I wish I knew the tune. Thank you for sharing it with us.
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