The Mary Ellen Carter (Stan Rogers)
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#2477: YouTube video by MinistryofStabbing ©2013 ~ Used with permission ~

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She went down last October
in a pouring driving rain,
The skipper he'd been drinking,
and the mate he felt no pain;
Too close to Three Mile Rock
and she was dealt her mortal blow,
And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low.
There was just five of us aboard her
when she finally was awash,
We'd worked like hell to save her,
all heedless of the cost;
And the groan she gave as she went down
it caused us to proclaim that,
The Mary Ellen Carter would rise again.

Well, the owners wrote her off;
not a nickel would they spend,
She gave twenty years of service,
boys, then met her sorry end;
But insurance paid the loss to us,
so let her rest below,
Then they laughed at us and said we had to go.
But we talked of her all winter,
some days around the clock,
For she's worth a quarter million,
boys, afloatin' at the dock;
And with every jar that hit the bar
we swore we would remain,
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

Rise again, rise again,
That her name not be lost
to the knowledge of men;
Those who loved her best
and were with her till the end,
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

All spring now, we've been with her
on a barge lent by a friend,
Three dives a day in a hard hat suit
and twice I've had the bends;
Thank God it's only sixty feet
and the currents here are slow,
Or I'd never have the strength to go below.
But we've patched her rents, stopped her vents,
Dogged hatch and porthole down,
Put cables to her fore and aft
and girded her around;
Tomorrow, noon, we hit the air
and then take up the strain,
And watch the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

For we couldn't leave her there,
you see, to crumble into scale,
She'd saved our lives so many times,
living through the gale;
And the laughing, drunken rats
who left her to a sorry grave,
They won't be laughing in another day.
And you, to whom adversity
has dealt the final blow,
With smiling bastards lying
to you everywhere you go,
Turn to and put out all your strength
of arm and heart and brain,
And like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!

Rise again, rise again,
Though your heart it be broken
and life about to end;
No matter what you've lost,
be it a home, a love, a friend,
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again!

Rise again, rise again,
Though your heart it be broken
and life about to end;
No matter what you've lost,
be it a home, a love, a friend,
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again!

####.... Stan Rogers, ©1983, Fogarty's Cove Music ....####

DADGAD tuning, capo 5th fret.

She [G] went down last Oct- [G/F#] ober
in a [C] pouring [D] 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 [G/F#] Rock
and she was [C] dealt her mortal [G] blow,
And the [Am] Mary Ellen Carter settled [D] low.
There was [G] just us five aboard [G/F#] her
when she [C] finally [D] was awash,
We [Am] worked like hell to save her,
all [C] heedless of the [D] cost;
And the [G] groan she gave
as [G/F#] she went down
it [C] caused us to pro- [G] claim,
That the [Am] Mary Ellen [D] Carter
would rise [G] again.

Break: [G/F#] [C] [D] [G] [G/F#] [C] [D]

Chorus:
Rise [Am] again, [D] rise [G] again, [G/F#] [C]
[D] That her [C] name not be lost
to the [G] knowledge of [D] men;
All [G] those who loved her [G/F#] best
and were [C] with her [D] till the [G] end,
Will make the [Am] Mary Ellen [D] Carter
rise [G] again. [G/F#]

Break: [C] [D] [G] [G/F#] [C] [D]

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