Standard (EADGBE)
Break
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 in - / surance paid the / loss to us,
So / let her rest be- / low.",
Then they / laughed at us, and,
Said we had to / go.
But we / talked of her all / winter,
Some / days around the / clock.
She's / worth a quarter / million,
A -/ floating at the / dock and
With / every jar that / hit the bar,
We / swore we would re - / main and
Make the / Mary Ellen / Carter rise a - / gain!
Chorus
Rise a - / gain, rise a - / gain,
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 a - / gain.
Break
All / spring now we've been / with her,
On a / barge lent by a / friend.
Three / dives a day in a / hardhat 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 be - / low.
But we've / patched her rents, / stopped her vents,
Dogged / hatch, and Portholes / down,
Put / cables to her, / fore and aft and
Girded her a - / round,
To - / morrow noon, we / hit the air and
Then take up the / strain, and
Make the / Mary Ellen / Carter rise a - / gain!
Break
- Chorus:
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 ad - / versity, 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 a - / gain!
2nd Chorus:
Rise a - / gain, / rise a - / gain,
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 a - / gain!
Repeat 2nd Chorus, with feeling on second "Rise a - gain".