The Cruise to Mars
By Marc Grossman [Mithgiladan the Herald]
Ttto “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”
[chords from “The Ballad of Apollo 13”, using the same tune,
from the Minus Ten and Counting songbook]

Asus2 Em
The legend comes down from those Florida-bound 
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From their port in northern New Jersey
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The captain, he said, we can beat out the storm
G D Asus2 / Am
Ere the skies of our passage turn gloomy.
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Well stocked with supplies, it was hubris come live
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And toward open waters went sailing
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The passengers, crew and the ship would be chewed
G D Am
when the storm named Mars (tried to claim them) came a-callin.

The ship was the pride of the caribbean line
On a run to canaveral and nassau.
As the big liners go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
Five thousand aboard, a vacationing horde
when they left for a cruise to adventure.
Til past noon next day, when the ship's bell rang,
could it be an east wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind cross the ship made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the sixth deck.
And all the crew knew, as the captain did too
'twas a rare winter hurricane (from heck) formin'.
As the day grew late, they steamed into their fate
when the tropical gales came slashin'.
When storm's teeth came, it was openly plain
With the force of a hurricane east wind.

Suppertime came, but the galley was wrecked
And no way in those rough seas to serve food
Yet again to the crew, and the passengers too, 
Captain said, in two hours we’d be good!
But the captain well knew, he was fighting the wind
and the good ship and all were in peril.
And later that night as the winds reached their height
came the damage to systems internal.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The sailors all say we'd have made a clear way
With 200 more sea miles behind us
We could have broke up or we could've capsized;
Or even broke deep and took water.
All that would have remained were the bodies and names
of those lost to the storm winds and waters

By four bells, they knew, it was all they could do
To tread water and look for a clearing.
While burning full steam, fighting failing machines
As the crew felt fate's hand a'closin
Locked in their staterooms, the passengers knew
Few facts, while fear ate at reason
And the honor bars freed, with their soda, candy,
Booze and Pringles weren't ment to keep us from starvin’

{But} the storm finally broke, rewarding the hopes
Of the passengers, crew and the captain
Morning, bells chimed, and the sun, it did shine
And a limited breakfast was servin'
The legend lives on from those Florida-bound
From the big ship they call "royal's anthem."
"the captain," they said, "never gives up his ship
when the hurricane Mars came to claim them!"