White Squall

         C               C                    Am              F
Now it's just my luck to have the watch, with nothing left to do
    E                E                   Dm                G
But watch the deadly waters glide, as we roll north to the Soo
    C                   C               Am              F
And wonder when they'll turn again, and pitch us to the rail
    Em                 G                C        C
And whirl off one more youngster in the gale


    C                 C             Am             F
The kid was so damned eager, it was all so big and new
    E            E                  Dm               G
You never had to tell him twice, or find him work to do
    C               C                 Am              F
And evenings on the mess deck, he was always first to sing
    Em                      G                C        C
And show us pictures of the girl he'd wed in spring


CHORUS ONE (after verses 1, 3,):
      G               G/B                  F                  E
But I told that kid a hundred times, don't take the lakes for granted
        Am                E                 Dm                G
They'll go from calm to a hundred knots, so fast they seem en-chanted
       C                   C                  Am             F
But to-night some red-eyed Wiarton girl, lies staring at the wall
        E               G          C         C
And her lover's gone in-to a white squall

Continues after the ad
    C                 C             Am             F
Now it's a thing that us old-timers know, in a sultry summer calm
    E            E                  Dm               G
There comes a blow from nowhere, and it goes off like a bomb
    C               C                 Am              F
And a sixteen thousand tonner can be thrown upon her beam
    Em                      G                C        C
While the gale takes all before it with a scream

    C                 C             Am             F
The kid was on the hatches, lying staring at the sky
    E            E                  Dm               G
From where I stood, I swear I could, see tears fall from his eye
    C               C                 Am              F
So I hadn't the heart to tell him, that he should be on a line
    Em                      G                C        C
Even on a night so warm and fine

WHITE SQUALL     PAGE TWO

        C                 C               Am                 F
When it struck, he sat up with a start, I roared to him: Get down
        E                 E                Dm              G
But for all that he could hear, I might as well not made a sound

C                  C                Am                F
So I clung there to the stanchions and I felt my face grow pale
      Em                G              C     C
As he crawled hand-over-hand along the rail


            C                C             Am          F
Now I could feel her heeling over with the fury of the blow
      E                   E              Dm           F
And I watched the rail go under then, so terrible and slow
          C                  C                 Am               F
Then like some great dog she shook herself and roared upright a-gain
      Em         G                 C      C
While overside I heard him call my name


        C               C                    Am              F
So it's just my luck to have the watch, with nothing left to do
    E                E                   Dm                G
But watch the deadly waters glide, as we roll north to the Soo
    C                   C               Am              F
And wonder when they'll turn again, and pitch us to the rail
    Em                 G                C        C
And whirl off one more youngster in the gale


CHORUS TWO:
      G                 G/B                  F                  E
And I tell these kids a hundred times, don't take the lakes for granted
        Am                E                 Dm                G
They'll go from calm to a hundred knots, so fast they seem en-chanted
       C                   C                  Am             F
But to-night some red-eyed Wiarton girl, lies staring at the wall
        E              G          C         C
And her lover's gone into a white squall