The Mary Ellen Carter (Unreleased Live Track)

She went down last October

In a pourin' driving rain

The skipper, he'd been drinking

And the Mate, he felt no pain

Too close to Three Mile Rock

When 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 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 we'd make

The Mary Ellen Carter rise again

Now the owners wrote her off

Not a nickel would they spend

She gave twenty years of service, boys

And met her sorry end

The insurance paid the loss to us

So let her rest below

They laughed at us and said we'd have to go

But we trotted her all winter

Somedays around the clock

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 watch

The Mary Ellen Carter rise again

Rise again, rise again

Let 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 a hard hat suit

And twice I've got 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 batched her wrench and stopped her vents

Tall hatch and porthole down

Put cables to her fore and aft

And girded her around

Tomorrow at noon we hit the air

And then take up the strain and watch

The Mary Ellen Carter rise again

Rise again, rise again

Let her name not be lost to the knowledge of men

All those who loved her best and were with her 'til the end