From: Barrie McCombs THE MARY ELLEN CARTER, Time 2/2 Tenor: C Bass: C - Stan Rogers, 1979, on: Between The Breaks 1 * 4 5 1 She went down last Oct-ober in a pouring driving rain 2m * 4 5 The skipper he'd been drinking, and the mate he felt no pain 1 * 4 1 Too close to Three Mile Rock and she was dealt her mortal blow 2m * 5 * And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low 1 * 4 5 1 There was just us five a-board her when she finally was a-wash 2m * 4 5 We worked like hell to save her, all heedless of the cost 1 * 4 1 And the groan she gave as she went down it caused us to pro-claim 2m 5 1 (1, 4, 5, 1, 1, 4, 5) That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise a-gain 1 * 4 5 1 Well the owners wrote her off, not a nickel would they spend 2m * 4 5 She gave twenty years of service, boys, then met her sorry end 1 * 4 1 But insurance paid the loss to us, so let her rest be-low 2m * 5 * Then they laughed at us and said we had to go 1 * 4 5 1 But we talked of her all winter, some days a-round the clock 2m * 4 5 She's worth a quarter million floating at the dock 1 * 4 1 And with every jar that hit the bar, we swore we would re-main 2m 5 1 * And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise a-gain CHORUS: 2m 5 1 4 Rise again____, rise a-gain____ 5 4 * 1 5 That her name not be lost to the knowledge of men 1 * 4 5 1 All those who loved her best and were with her 'til the end 2m 5 1 * (4, 5, 1, 1, 4, 5) Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise a-gain____ CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO NOTES: - Alternate: play (1, 1/7) for any (1 *) pattern - Recorded version has more syncopated timing - Rogers: DADGAD tuning play G, capo 5th Fret = C THE MARY ELLEN CARTER PAGE TWO 1 * 4 5 1 All spring now, we've been with her, on a barge lent by a friend 2m * 4 5 Three dives a day in a hardhat suit, and twice I've had the bends 1 * 4 1 Thank God, it's only sixty feet and the currents here are slow 2m * 5 * Or I'd never have the strength to go be-low 1 * 4 5 1 But we've patched her rents, stopped her vents, dogged hatch and porthole down 2m * 4 5 Put cables to her, 'fore and aft, and girded her a-round 1 * 4 1 To-morrow noon, we hit the air and then take up the strain 2m 5 1 (1, 4, 5, 1, 1, 4, 5) And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise a-gain 1 * 4 5 1 For we couldn't leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale 2m * 4 5 She'd saved our lives so many times, living through the gale 1 * 4 1 And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave 2m * 5 * They won't be laughing in another day 1 * 4 5 1 And you, to whom ad-versity has dealt the final blow 2m * 4 5 With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go 1 * 4 1 Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain 2m 5 1 (1, 4, 5, 1, 1, 4, 5) And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise a-gain FINAL CHORUS: 2m 5 1 4 Rise again_____, rise a-gain____ 5 4 * 1 5 Though your heart it be broken and life about to end 1 * 4 5 1 No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend 2m 5 1 * Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise a-gain ENDING: REPEAT FINAL CHORUS SYMBOLS: - Asterisk (*) = new measure, play same chord - Period (.) = 1/8 note rest at start of a measure - Underline(_) = sustain note into next measure CHORDS (Number System): - Example: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - Key of C: C D E F G A B - Detailed description: /pub/guitar/other_stuff/numbering_system.txt - Submitted by: Barrie McCombs (bmccombs@acs.ucalgary.ca)