The Mary Ellen Carter - Words & Music by Stan Rogers (1979)
E|---------------------|
DADGAD Tuning, Capo 5th Fret (see notes below)
Instead of putting the major 7 in the bass on the G/F#, I just play it up
top. I often get lazy, and just play xx0002 there.
-jon
[Verse 1]
G G/F# C D G
She went down last October in a pouring driving rain
Am C D
The skipper he'd been drinking, and the mate he felt no pain
G G/F# C G
Too close to Three Mile Rock and she was dealt her mortal blow
Am D
And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low
G G/F# C D G
There was just us five aboard her when she finally was awash
Am C D
We worked like hell to save her, all heedless of the cost
G G/F# C G
And the groan she gave as she went down it caused us to proclaim
Am D G
That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again
[Break]
G/F# / C / D / G / G/F# / C / D
[Verse 2]
G G/F# C D G
Well the owners wrote her off, not a nickel would they spend
Am C D
"She gave twenty years of service, boys, then met her sorry end.
G G/F# C G
But insurance paid the loss to us, so let her rest below."
Am D
Then they laughed at us and said we had to go.
G G/F# C D G
But we talked of her all winter, some days around the clock
Am C D
She's worth a quarter million afloat and at the dock
G G/F# C G
And with every jar that hit the bar we swore we would remain
Am D G
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.
[Chorus 1]
Am D G G/F# (C)
Rise again, rise again
(D) C G D
That her name not be lost to the knowledge of men
G G/F# C D G
All those who loved her best and were with her 'til the end
Am D G
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again
[Break]
G/F# / C / D / G / G/F# / C / D
[Verse 3]
G G/F# C D G
All spring now we've been with her on a barge lent by a friend
Am C D
Three dives a day in a hardhat suit and twice I've had the bends
G G/F# C G
Thank God it's only sixty feet and the currents here are slow
Am D
Or I'd never have the strength to go below
G G/F# C D G
But we've patched her rents, stopped her vents, dogged hatch and porthole down
Am C D
Put cables to her, fore and aft, and girded her around
G G/F# C G
Tomorrow noon, we hit the air and then take up the strain
Am D G
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.
[Chorus 1]
Am D G G/F# (C)
Rise again, rise again
(D) C G D
That her name not be lost to the knowledge of men
G G/F# C D G
All those who loved her best and were with her 'til the end
Am D G G/F#
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again
[Verse 4]
G G/F# C D G
For we couldn't leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale
Am C D
She'd saved our lives so many times, living through the gale
G G/F# C G
And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave
Am D
They won't be laughing in another day...
G G/F# C D G
And you, to whom adversity has dealt its final blow
Am C D
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
G G/F# C G
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
Am D G
And like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!
[Chorus 2]
Am D G G/F# (C)
Rise again, rise again
(D) C G D
Though your heart it be broken and life about to end
G G/F# C D G
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend
Am D G
Like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!
