Mary Ellen Carter

{title:Mary Ellen Carter }
{subtitle:Stan Rogers }
{key: }

[G] She went down last October in the [C] pouring, driving [G] rain. 
The [Am] skipper he’d been drinking and the [C] mate he felt no [D] pain. 
Too [G] close to Three Mile Rock and she was [C] dealt her mortal [G] blow
And the [Am] Marry Ellen Carter sitting [D] low.

[G] There was just us five aboard her when she [C] finally was a-[G] wash.
We [Am] worked like hell to save her all [C] heedless of the [D] cost.
And the [G] groan she gave as she went down, it [C] caused us to [G] proclaim 
That the [Am] Mary Ellen [D] Carter’d rise [G] again.

[G] Well, the owners wrote her off, not a [C] nickel would they [G] spend.
"She [Am] gave twenty years of service, boys, and [C] met her sorry [D] end.
But [G] insurance paid the loss to us, so [C] let her rest [G] below,"
They [Am] laughed at us and said we’d have to [D] go.

[G] But we talked of her all winter, some [C] days around the [G] clock,
She’s [Am] worth a quarter million, a-[C] floating at the [D] dock.
And [G] with every jar that hit the bar we [C] swore we would [G] remain
And watch the [Am] Mary Ellen [D] Carter rise [G] again.

[Am] Rise again, [D] rise [G] again,
Let her [C] name not be lost to the [G] knowledge of [D] men
For [G] those who loved her best and were [C] with her [D] to the [G] end,
We’ll make the [C] Mary Ellen [D] Cater, rise [G] again.

[G] All spring, now, we’ve been with her on a [C] barge lent by a [G] friend.
Three [Am] dives a day in a hard hat suit and [C] twice I’ve had the [D] bends. 
Thank [G] God it’s only sixty feet and the [C] currents here are [G] slow
Or I’d [Am] never have the strength to go [D]  below.

[G] But we’ve patched her rents, and stopped her vents, 
Dogged [C] hatch and porthole [G] down 
Put [Am] cables to her fore and aft and [C] girded her [D] around;
And [G] tomorrow, noon, we hit the air and then [C] take up the [G] strain
And watch the [Am] Mary Ellen [D] Carter rise [G] again.
 
[G] For we couldn’t leave her there, you see, to [C] crumble into [G] scale.
She’d [Am] saved our lives so many times, [C]  living through the [D] gale;
And the [G] laughing, drunken rats who left her [C] to a sorry [G] grave,
They won’t be [Am] laughing in another [D] day.

[G] And you, to whom adversity has [C] dealt that final [G] blow,
With [Am] smiling bastards lying to you [C] everywhere you [D] go
Turn [G] to and put out all your strength of [C] arm and heart and [G] brain
And like the [Am] Mary Ellen [D]  Carter, rise [G] again!

[Am] Rise again, [D] rise [G] again,
Thou your [C] heart, it be [G] broken, your life about to [D] end,
No [G] matter what you’ve [C] lost, be it a [D]home, a love, a [G] friend,
Be like the [C] Mary Ellen [D] Cater: rise [G] again