The Mary Ellen Carter

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 were 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 afloat and 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
 All those who loved her best and were with her 'til 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 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 make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again
 Rise again, rise again
 That her name not be lost to the knowledge of men
 All those who loved her best and were with her 'til the end
 Will make 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 or 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 or 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