Tom: G 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!