Sinking of the Reuben James - Woody Guthrie

Have you heard of a ship called the good Reuben James

Manned by hard fighting men both of honor and fame

She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free

But she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea

Tell me what were their names

Tell me what were their names

Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James

What were their names tell me

What were their names

Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James

Well a hundred men went down

In that dark watery grave

When that good ship went down

Only forty-four were saved

Was the last day of October

We saved the forty-four

From the cold ocean waters and the cold icy shore

It was there in the dark of

That uncertain night

Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James

What were their names tell me

What were their names

Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James

It was there in the dark of

That uncertain night

That we watched for the U-boats

And waited for a fight

Then a whine and a rock

And a great explosion roared

And they laid the Reuben James

On that cold ocean floor

And what were their names tell me

What were their names

Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James

What were their names tell me

What were their names

Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James

Now tonight there are lights

In our country so bright

In the farms and in the cities

They're telling of the fight

And now our mighty battleships

Will steam the bounding main

And remember the name of that good Reuben James

What were their names tell me

What were their names

Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James

What were their names tell me

What were their names

Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James