Steve Earle sings first verse a cappella, but I provide chords for those of us lacking confidence in our voices... D G D Come and gather 'round me people and a tale to you I'll tell D A G D Of my father and his father in the days before the Spill D G D With an endless sky above 'em and a restless sea below D A G D And every blessing flowing from the Gulf of Mexico D G D Well my Granddad worked the shrimp boats from the time that he was grown D A G D And he scrimped and saved and bought himself a trawler of his own D G D He was rough and he was ready and he drank when he was home D A G D And he made his family's living on the Gulf of Mexico Chorus D G D D G D He was rolling, He was rolling D G A D Cross the deep blue water he was rolling D G D Well my Daddy drove a crew boat hauling workers to the rigs D A G D He was sick of mending nets and couldn't stand the smell of fish D G D He drew a steady paycheck 20 years from Texaco D A G D When he died we spread his ashes on the Gulf of Mexico Chorus D G D G D He was rolling, He was rolling D G A D Cross the deep green water he was rolling D G D As for me I dreamed of nothing any grander than the day D A G D That I stepped out on the drilling floor to earn a roughneck's pay D G D Then one night I swear I saw the devil crawlin' from the hole D A G D And he spilled the guts of hell out in the Gulf of Mexico Chorus D G D G D We were rolling, we were rolling D G A D Cross the blood red water we were rolling
