by Woodie Guthrie



Have you heard of the ship called the good Ruben James

Manned by hard fighting men both of honor and fame

It flew the stars and strips of the land of the free

And tonights she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea.



Cho: What were there names, tell me what were their names

Did you have a friend on the good Ruben James.

What were their names, tell me what were their names

The men who went down on the good Ruben James.



It was there in the dark of that uncertain night

That they waited for the U-boat and waited for a fight;

Then a whine, and a rock and a great explosion roar

And they laid the Ruben James on the cold ocean floor.



Now tonight there are lights in our country so bright

In the farms and the cities they are telling of this fight.

And now our fighting battleships will steam the bounding main

And remember the name of the good Ruben James