D G C D
Now back when this earth was a silver blue jewel
G C D
And back when your grandfather's fathers were young
Bm E A D
Men of these shores made and gave up their lives
Bm E A
Pulling up fish from the sea
[Verse 2]
D C/D
While down in the African slavery trade
D C/D
Stealing young men to cut sugar cane
D C G/B C D
Rum to New Bedford and codfish from Maine
C Bb C D
They were building a wall that will always remain
[Verse 3]
C/D
Oh, the crown and the cross, the musket and the chain
D C/D
The white man's religion, the family name
D C G/B C D
Two hundred years later and who is to blame?
C Bb C D
The captain or the cargo or the juice of the sugar cane?
[Verse 4]
D G C D
The doryman he knows when the riptides will run
G C D
He sets out his nets and he waits in the sun
Bm E A D
He thinks of his family and drinks of his rum
Bm E A
And he waits for the codfish to come
[Verse 5]
D C/D
It's the same goddamn ocean that keeps them alive
D C/D
It will swallow you up, it will let you survive
D C G/B C D
It will heal you and steal you and take you away
C Bb C D
Like a note in a bottle with nothing to say
[Verse 6]
D G C D
Now back when this earth was a silver blue jewel
G C D
Back when your grandfather's fathers were young
Bm E A D
Men of these shores made and gave up their lives
Bm E A Em/G Dm/F G D
Pulling up fish from the sea