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The Sinking of the Reuben James

G	C	Am
What were their names, tell me	what were their	names,

	D	C	G
Did	you have a friend on the	good Reuben	James?

	G	D	G
Have you	heard of a ship called the	good Reuben	James

	D	G
Manned by hard fighting men both of	honor and of	fame?

	C	G
She flew the Stars and Stripes for the	land of the	free

	D	G
But tonight she's in her grave at the	bottom of the	sea.

Chorus:

	G	C	Am
Tell me	what were their names, tell me	what were their	names,

	D	C	D
Did	you have a friend on the	good Reuben	James?

G	C	Am
what were their names, tell me	what were their	names,

	D	C	G
Did	you have a friend on the	good Reuben	James?

	G	D	G
It was	there in the dark of that	uncertain	night

	D	G
That we watched for the U-boats and	waited for a	fight.

	C	G
Then a whine and a rock and a	great explosion	roared

	D	G
And they laid the Reuben James on that	cold ocean	floor.

Chorus

	G	D	G
One	hundred men were drowned in that	dark watery	grave

	D	G
When that good ship went down only	forty-four were	saved.

	C	G
T'was the last day of October we	saved the forty-	four

	D	G
From the cold icy waters off that	cold Iceland	shore.

Chorus

G	D	G
Many years have passed since those	brave men are	gone,

	D	G
And those cold icy waters now are	still and are	calm.

	C	G
Many years have passed, but	still I wonder	why

	D	G
The worst of men must fight and the	best of men must	die.

Chorus

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