Save the whales (video)

Dm C

1. When my grandpa was a boy, he went down to the general store,

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saw a picture book of a whale shooting its spout and flashin' its tail.

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Then he got a sailor's dream 'bout cruisin' around on the salty sea,

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joinin' up with a fishin' crew to go out and get him a whale or two.

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Tell me what kind of men are these who sail upon the salty seas,

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up in the rigging in the afternoon,

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swabbin' the decks and sharpenin' harpoons.

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Hooray and up she rises, hooray and up she rises,

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hooray and up she rises early in the morning.

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2. Lots of whales in the deep blue sea,

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and we kill them for the industry,

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we drag 'em 'longside and cut 'em in two,

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and melt 'em down and sell 'em to you.

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There hardly is a sailor alive,

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who can keep the tears from his eyes,

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as he remembers the good old days,

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when there were no whales to save.

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Now we can thank the companies for scouring the deep blue seas,

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looking for ivory and perfume, and oil for us, and living room.

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Hooray and up she rises, hooray and up she rises,

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hooray and up she rises early in the morning.

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3. Shanghaied by the light of the moon,

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put out from Boston in the middle of June,

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after six months out at sea, it's nothin' but death and misery.

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Set out on a three-year cruise, a union ship and a union crew,

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and after six months you begin to see,

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that whalin's not what it used to be.

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A modern ship and a modern crew

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with sonar scopes and explodin' harpoons,

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a mechanical boat made outta steel,

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a floating machine built to kill the whales.

+ CHORUS + repeat first verse and CHORUS …

(Country Joe McDonald)