The Longest Johns – The Mary Ellen Carter (Guitar)

       G
Oh She went down last October,

     C       D       G
In a pouring driving rain,

    Am
The skipper he'd been drinking and

    C               D
The mate he felt no pain,

    G
Out close to Three Mile Rock and

        C                G
She was dealt her mortal blow then

    Am                        D
The Mary Ellen Carter settled low.

         G
There was just us four aboard her,

         C            G
When she finally was awash,

   Am
We worked like hell to save her,

    C               D
All heedless of the cost, but

    G
The groan she made as she went down,

   C               G
It caused us to proclaim,

         Am         D                  G
That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again.

      Am D        G
Rise again, rise again,

         C           C
May her name not be lost,

       G            D
To the knowledge of men,

      G
All those who loved her best and who

     C        D        G
Were with her 'til the end,

              Am         D             G
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

         G
Well the company wrote her off,

      C      D          G
Not a nickel would they spend,

          Am
"She gave twenty years of service, boys,

     C             D
Then met her sorry end.

      G
But insurance paid the loss to us,

     C              G
Then let her rest below",

          Am
Then they laughed at us, and

               D
Said we had to go.

       G
But we talked of her all winter,

          C               G
Sometimes days around the clock.

      Am
She's worth a quarter million,

  C               D
A-floating at the dock, and

     G
With every jar that hit the bar,

   C                G
We swore we would remain and

         Am         D            G
Make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!

      Am D        G
Rise again, rise again,

         C           C
May her name not be lost,

       G            D
To the knowledge of men,

      G
All those who loved her best and who

     C        D        G
Were with her 'til the end,

              Am         D             G
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

    G
All spring now we've been with her,

     C          D    G
On a barge lent by a friend.

      Am
Three dives a day in a hardhat suit, and

C                  D
Twice I've had the bends.

      G
Thank God it's only sixty feet, and

    C                 G
The currents here are slow, or

    Am
I'd never have the strength,

        D
To go below.

      G
So we patched her rents, stopped her vents,

       C                    G
Dogged hatch, and Portholes down,

    Am
Put cables to her, fore and aft and

C           D
Girded her around,

  G
Tomorrow noon, we hit the air and

C                G
Then take up the strain, and

         Am         D            G
Make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

      Am D        G
Rise again, rise again,

         C           C
May her name not be lost,

       G            D
To the knowledge of men,

      G
All those who loved her best and who

     C        D        G
Were with her 'til the end,

              Am         D             G
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

        G
Well we couldn't leave her there,

           C       D    G
You see to crumble into scale.

      Am
She'd saved our lives, so many times,

C                    D
Fighting through the gale, and

    G
The laughing, drunken rats,

            C          G
Who led her to a sorry grave, well

     Am                           D
They won't be laughing in another day, and to

G                           C                 G
You, to whom adversity, has dealt it's mortal blow,

     Am
With smiling bastards lying to you,

C              D
Everywhere you go,

     G
Turn to, and put out all your strength,

   C                  G
Of arm, and heart and brain, and

         Am         D            G
Like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!

      Am  D       G
Rise again, rise again,

            C            C
Though your heart, it be broke, and your

G             D
Life about to end,

   G
No matter what you've lost,

        C       D       G
Be it a home, a love, a friend,

         Am         D            G
Like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!

      Am  D       G
Rise again, rise again,

            C            C
Though your heart, it be broke, and your

G             D
Life about to end,

   G
No matter what you've lost,

        C       D       G
Be it a home, a love, a friend,

         Am         D            G
Like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!