Around the Wild Cape Horn Ralph McTell
Capo'd at the 2nd fret
[G]I was born a land-bound [C]farm [G]boy and [Em]in New [D]England [C]raised,
The rippling of the [G]wheat fields, well they [Em]were my ocean [D]waves.
Each [G]cry and call, each [C]rise and [G]fall, of the [Em]crows a-[D]cross the [C]corn
Were seagulls [G]swooping a-[D]cross the [G]bow, of a [C]ship I dreamed Iā??[Em]d sail [D]a-round
Cape [G]Horn.
[G]My deck was the dusty [C]farm [G]yard, my [Em]mast was the [D]telegraph [C]pole
And the windblow choir in the [G]telephone wire was the [Em]call heard in my [D]soul
[G]And it seemed to [C]have been [G]singing [Em]since the day that [D]I was [C]born
I'm gonna take a [G]trip on a [D]sailing [G]ship, [C]all the way [Em]around the [D]wild Cape
[G]Horn
[G]Well I found that ship in [C]Ham[G]burg, her [Em]name it [D]was Peki[C]ng
Our skipperā??s name wa[G]s Captain JĆ¼rs, and I[Em]ā??d never met a man [D]like him.
[G]He pulled two men out [C]from the [G]sea, by the [Em]hair, in a [D]raging [C]storm.
And he kept that [G]grip on a [D]sailing [G]ship, [C]all the way [Em]around the [D]wild Cape
[G]Horn.
[D]Well its four hours on and its four hours off [Am]and you sleep in your wet
[C]clothes
The only dry thing [G]on the ship is the [C]cargo [Em]down be[D]low
[G]Eleven thousand [C]miles we [G]sailed, [Em]nigh on one [D]hundred [C]dawns
[G]Thirty two [D]sails on a [G]heaving [C]ship, pulling us [Em]around the [D]wild cape [G]horn
[G]Well the cargo weighed five [C]thousand [G]tons, the [Em]ship three [D]thousand [C]more.
An acre of sail [G]was up aloft, some [Em]seventeen storeys [D]tall.
[G]And we had a pig, and a [C]scruffy [G]dog and a [Em]turkey [D]fed on [C]corn.
[G]And willing [D]hands who [G]catch the [C]wind, hauling us [Em]around the [D]wild Cape [G]Horn.
[G]For seventeen days we [C]were [G]becalmed and then [Em]Friday [D]the thirt[C]eenth
Sixty eight great [G]ships were lost in the [Em]storm of the [D]century.
[G]But we were swept into the [C]Atlanti[G]c, on a [Em]sun-lit [D]sparkling [C]morn,
[G]The turkey got [D]sick, so we [G]ate him [C]quick, on the way [Em]around the [D]wild Cape
[G]Horn.
[D]Well she had us sort of hypnotised, no [Am]time to catch our [C]breath,
If you want to feel [G]real alive, well you [C]have to [Em]flirt with [D]death.
[G]Sail close to the [C]harnessed [G]wind, and [Em]treat all [D]risks with [C]scorn
[G]A farm boy [D]and an [G]un-yoked t[C]eam, ploughed their way [Em]around the [D]wild Cape
[G]Horn.
[G]Now on that voyage we [C]lost two [G]boys, they [Em]got thrown [D]overb[C]oard.
Silence from us [G]down below, no [Em]one could put in [D]words.
[G]Two empty bunks to [C]mark the [G]space in [Em]our young [D]lives to [C]mourn,
[G]Voids [D]between all [G]life and [C]death, on the way [Em]around the [D]wild Cape [G]Horn
[G]And mountain waves, like [C]ava[G]lanches [Em]crashed [D]upon the [C]decks,
The screaming winds snapped [G]ropes and spars, and [Em]tried to have us [D]wrecked.
[G]But she rose and fell through [C]foam and [G]swell, her [Em]sails were [D]ripped and [C]torn
[G]Eight thousand [D]tons [G]tossed like a [C]cork, on the way [Em]around the [D]wild Cape [G]Horn.
[D]And she had us sort of hypnotised, no [Am]time to catch our [C]breath,
If you want to feel [G]real alive, well you [C]have to [Em]flirt with [D]death.
[G]Sail close to the [C]harnessed [G]wind, and [Em]treat all [D]risks with [C]scorn
[G]A farm boy [D]and an [G]un-yoked t[C]eam, ploughed their way [Em]around the [D]wild Cape
[G]Horn.
[G]Well, a farm boy [D]and [G]un-yoked [C]team, ploughed their way [Em]around the [D]wild Cape
[G]Horn.
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