"The Mary Ellen Carter" - Stan Rogers

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 was just us five 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
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

Well we talked of her all winter, sometimes around the clock
She's worth a quarter million a-floating at the dock
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
Those who loved her best and were with her 'till 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 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 patched her rents, stopped her vents, dogged hatch and portal 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
Those who loved her best and were with her 'till the end
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

For we couldn't leave her there you see to crumble into scale
She saved our lives so many times living through the gale
And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to her 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 and 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 and 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

I absolutely love this song. Once quite a while back I read this article about Stan Rogers as one of the greatest Canadians, and the author spoke about a time when he was out fishing and was hit by a huge storm which capsized their ship. As he clung to a piece of wood in the freezing water, he was so tempted to just let go because it seemed hopeless. But in that desperate moment, the chorus of The Mary Ellen Carter came to his mind, and with every "rise again" his resolve grew. "Because of Stan Rogers and this song," the man declared, "I am still alive today." Pretty sweet, eh?