Dm Am Bb F C Dm


[Verse 1]
     Dm
Come all you hearty shellbacks,
                  Am
And listen to me tale,
    Bb            F
Of most majestic worthiness
     C              Am
That ever defied a gale;
      Dm
The greatest vessel of her kind
                     Am
That ever a man did see,
     Bb              F
She was the mighty clipper ship,
     Am               Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.


[Verse 2]
     Dm
It’s Boston eighteen fifty-two,
                       Am
The yards of Donald McKay,
    Bb                 F
He built the biggest clipper ship
   C                     Am
To ever launch down the ways;
     Dm
His reputation on the line,
                    Am
His money ventured too;
    Bb                  F
But he would laugh the last,
       Am               Dm
He’d show them he was true.


[Chorus]
      Dm                  Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
     C                 F
She lived to chase a breeze;
     Gm              Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
     Bb       C       Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.


[Verse 3]
     Dm
Her frame of seasoned white oak,
                          Am
Her lines were sharp and long,
     Bb                  F
Her backbone, knees and keelson,
     C                  Am
She was so stout and strong;
     Dm
Two hundred sixty-five feet
                           Am
She reached from stem to stern,
         Bb               F
Twelve thousand yards of canvas
     Am               Dm
All for the wind did yearn.

[Verse 4]
      Dm
With Neptune ‘neath the bowsprit,
                      Am
She cut the waves so fine,
      Bb            F
She swept into New York me boys
    C                        Am
To work for the Swallowtail line;
     Dm
No ship to date had stowed so much
             Am
Down in the hold,
        Bb              F
Three thousand tons of goods below
       Am            Dm
Took thirty days to load.


[Chorus]
      Dm                  Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
     C                 F
She lived to chase a breeze;
     Gm              Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
     Bb       C       Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.


[Verse 5]
     Dm
The water-gazers all along
                  Am
The battery did stare,
        Bb                  F
As she filled her sails to windward
        C                  Am
In the sunlight’s golden glare;
     Dm
Then outward bound for ‘Frisco
                         Am
And the screaming westerlies,
   Bb                F
Across the line and round the Horn
   Am                   Dm
Through the Roaring Forties.


[Verse 6]
     Dm
The gale took half the rigging,
                   Am
We’ll fix it underway,
       Bb          F
We’ll weather any sea
      C                 Am
The skipper did boldly say;
       Dm
Don’t mind the boarding combers,
                         Am
As the solid green she ships,
         Bb               F
We’ll throw up some more canvas
            Am                    Dm
Then we’ll punch her through the rips.


[Chorus]
      Dm                  Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
     C                 F
She lived to chase a breeze;
     Gm              Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
     Bb       C       Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.


[Instrumental]
Dm Am
C F
Gm Am
Bb C Dm

Dm Am
C F
Gm Am
Bb C Dm


[Verse 7]
 Dm
Sailing into ‘Frisco Bay,
                     Am
A hundred three days out,
      Bb              F
The crowds along the waterfront
       C                  Am
They shouted and danced about;
 Dm
Payday brought a bonus
                    Am
For all the men on board,
   Bb               F
A hundred thousand for the ship
     Am         Dm
That voyages reward.


[Verse 8]
     Dm
Then to the Sandwich Isles
                       Am
For a load of oil and bone,
        Bb                  F
Eight thousand barrels of whale oil
        C                  Am
First clipper to bring it home;
 Dm
Eighty-two days later
                 Am
A record to New York,
    Bb                   F
She earned her keep for Donald McKay
 Am                   Dm
Sailing from port to port.


[Chorus]
      Dm                  Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
     C                 F
She lived to chase a breeze;
     Gm              Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
     Bb       C       Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.


[Verse 9]
 Dm
Leaving records in her wake
                     Am
And cargo round the world,
    Bb               F
A ship ahead of her time
     C                Am
With all her sails unfurled;
      Dm
From Bombay to Ampoa,
                Am
London to Shanghai,
     Bb              F
She flew across the waters
     Am               Dm
The world of sea and sky.

[Verse 10]
     Dm
But under heavy canvas,
                    Am
She foundered in a gale,
      Bb              F
She wrecked upon the Pyramid shoals
     C                Am
And none to tell the tale,
       Dm
‘Twas but her seventh summer,
                     Am
Cut short her glorious reign,
      Bb                 F
But those who burn the brightest
     Am                  Dm
Oft flash the briefest flame.


[Chorus]
      Dm                  Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
     C                 F
She lived to chase a breeze;
     Gm              Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
     Bb       C       Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.


[Chorus]
      Dm                  Am
She crossed the line and doubled the Horn,
     C                 F
She lived to chase a breeze;
     Gm              Am
She was the mighty clipper ship
     Bb       C       Dm
The Sovereign of the Seas.