We hate to leave
But when they give you leave,you gotta leave
Oh our hearts bleed for all you guys aboard
But right now sympathy is a thing we can't afford
We hate to leave, we hate to leave
Without you guys along, we'll even grieve
But we'll be back, yes, we'll be back
Before we're even missed
And tell you guys about the gals out there that we have kissed
We'll even say, we'll even say
We really hate to leave
(You know, Clarence, I hate the thought of going ashore,)
(And leave these guys here sitting in their undershirts)
(We gotta meet all those beautiful dames in their soft silk dresses,)
(But duty is duty, and an order is an order)
(Now I know some guys get a thrill out of meeting)
(A gorgeous gal every night.)
Oh, we hate to leave, we hate to leave
But when they give you leave, you gotta leave
No more pin-up gals that we so enjoy
Tonight, my boy, we get to meet the real McCoy
We hate to leave, we hate to leave
But we'll be back before the night is here
We want to stay, we want to stay
Our hearts are with the ship
But the Admiral made us take this leave
Or he'll beat us with a whip
We'd rather stay, we'd rather stay
Oh we really hate to leave