Tom: Dm
Dm Am Bb F C Dm
[Verse 1]
Dm
Come all you hearty shellbacks,
Am
And listen to me tale,
Bb F
Of most majestic worthiness
C Am
That ever defied a gale;
Dm
The greatest vessel of her kind
Am
That ever a man did see,
Bb F
She was the mighty clipper ship,
Am Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.
[Verse 2]
Dm
It’s Boston eighteen fifty-two,
Am
The yards of Donald McKay,
Bb F
He built the biggest clipper ship
C Am
To ever launch down the ways;
Dm
His reputation on the line,
Am
His money ventured too;
Bb F
But he would laugh the last,
Am Dm
He’d show them he was true.
[Chorus]
Dm Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
C F
She lived to chase a breeze;
Gm Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
Bb C Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.
[Verse 3]
Dm
Her frame of seasoned white oak,
Am
Her lines were sharp and long,
Bb F
Her backbone, knees and keelson,
C Am
She was so stout and strong;
Dm
Two hundred sixty-five feet
Am
She reached from stem to stern,
Bb F
Twelve thousand yards of canvas
Am Dm
All for the wind did yearn.
[Verse 4]
Dm
With Neptune ‘neath the bowsprit,
Am
She cut the waves so fine,
Bb F
She swept into New York me boys
C Am
To work for the Swallowtail line;
Dm
No ship to date had stowed so much
Am
Down in the hold,
Bb F
Three thousand tons of goods below
Am Dm
Took thirty days to load.
[Chorus]
Dm Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
C F
She lived to chase a breeze;
Gm Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
Bb C Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.
[Verse 5]
Dm
The water-gazers all along
Am
The battery did stare,
Bb F
As she filled her sails to windward
C Am
In the sunlight’s golden glare;
Dm
Then outward bound for ‘Frisco
Am
And the screaming westerlies,
Bb F
Across the line and round the Horn
Am Dm
Through the Roaring Forties.
[Verse 6]
Dm
The gale took half the rigging,
Am
We’ll fix it underway,
Bb F
We’ll weather any sea
C Am
The skipper did boldly say;
Dm
Don’t mind the boarding combers,
Am
As the solid green she ships,
Bb F
We’ll throw up some more canvas
Am Dm
Then we’ll punch her through the rips.
[Chorus]
Dm Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
C F
She lived to chase a breeze;
Gm Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
Bb C Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.
[Instrumental]
Dm Am
C F
Gm Am
Bb C Dm
Dm Am
C F
Gm Am
Bb C Dm
[Verse 7]
Dm
Sailing into ‘Frisco Bay,
Am
A hundred three days out,
Bb F
The crowds along the waterfront
C Am
They shouted and danced about;
Dm
Payday brought a bonus
Am
For all the men on board,
Bb F
A hundred thousand for the ship
Am Dm
That voyages reward.
[Verse 8]
Dm
Then to the Sandwich Isles
Am
For a load of oil and bone,
Bb F
Eight thousand barrels of whale oil
C Am
First clipper to bring it home;
Dm
Eighty-two days later
Am
A record to New York,
Bb F
She earned her keep for Donald McKay
Am Dm
Sailing from port to port.
[Chorus]
Dm Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
C F
She lived to chase a breeze;
Gm Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
Bb C Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.
[Verse 9]
Dm
Leaving records in her wake
Am
And cargo round the world,
Bb F
A ship ahead of her time
C Am
With all her sails unfurled;
Dm
From Bombay to Ampoa,
Am
London to Shanghai,
Bb F
She flew across the waters
Am Dm
The world of sea and sky.
[Verse 10]
Dm
But under heavy canvas,
Am
She foundered in a gale,
Bb F
She wrecked upon the Pyramid shoals
C Am
And none to tell the tale,
Dm
‘Twas but her seventh summer,
Am
Cut short her glorious reign,
Bb F
But those who burn the brightest
Am Dm
Oft flash the briefest flame.
[Chorus]
Dm Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
C F
She lived to chase a breeze;
Gm Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
Bb C Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.
[Chorus]
Dm Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
C F
She lived to chase a breeze;
Gm Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
Bb C Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.
