Get Her Into Shore (Larry Kaplan)

Get her into shore,
She can't take it any more;
She's too far from home,
It's gonna break her bones.
Won't you get her into shore?

No sir, I can't stand
The bitter cold.
'Twas the third day of the year.

There were three of us then.
We were the youngest of ten,
Two for lines and one for gear.

When it blows northeast
On the George's Bank,
You don't like to take your time.

But the engine was old,
She didn't like the cold,
And we fell back on our line.

Get her into shore,
She can't take it any more;
She's too far from home,
It's gonna break her bones.
Won't you get her into shore?

Jack threw the switch,
Said, "You old son of a bitch!
What the hell do you think you're doin'?

"Brought us to the poor house
Too many times;
You ain't taking us to our ruin."

Then the line went slack;
We felt the stern turn back,
And she headed up again.

But she just lightened up,
And I knew we were stuck,
Lying broadside to the wind.

Get her into shore,
She can't take it any more;
She's too far from home,
It's gonna break her bones.
Won't you get her into shore?

Jack picked up the ax;
He cut the scree from the tracks.
He swung so hard he smashed the rail.

He spit in the sea,
And looks hard at me,
And his face was whiter than hail.

Then we tried her again;
We gave her all that we got,
And we felt that screw turn 'round.

I remember I prayed
For some more spirit way
On that black and ugly ground.

Get her into shore,
She can't take it any more;
She's too far from home,
It's gonna break her bones.
Won't you get her into shore?

Jack threw the bow rope in,
To run with to the tide,
But she fell into the trough.

With her rails to the swell,
She just leaned in and fell,
And I knew that we all were lost.

All I could see
Was that rotten old keel
With the line put across her stern.

And I just called to her
That I couldn't go down.
I just wish I'd never been born.

Get her into shore,
She can't take it any more;
She's too far from home,
It's gonna break her bones.
Won't you get her into shore?

Those tides run strong
In the winter time.
You're a fool to go and try.

God bless the poor men
Who were born on the sea.
God save poor men who die.