webster • guthrie
31th of October 1941, the four-funnel destroyer "USS Reuben James" (laid down and launched 1919) was sunk by a torpedo attack against a convoy near Iceland. This was before USA became an official part in the second world war, and 100 crewmembers went down with the ship.
Woody Guthie had several times before turned incidents into songs - or poems for newspapers, later becoming songs - and this time he used the melody from "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets", composed 1860 by Joseph Philbrick Webster (1819 – 1875), also known for "Lorena", "In the Sweet By and By" and a total of more than 1000 songs as "J.P.Webster".
Guthrie first intended to dedicate verses to names from the casualty list of the sinking, but ended up with adding a chorus instead. The song was first recorded by Almanac Singers, a left-wing folk group with various members like Pete Seeger, Cisco Houston and Guthrie himself.
The original "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets" had lyrics by some "Maud Irving", which has showed up to be an alias for the poet and spiritist J. William Van Namee. The song finally turned into "Wildwood Flower", the classic Carter Family folksong, famous for it's special way of playing the guitar by Mother Maybelle: melody on the bass strings and harmonies on treble. But THAT song should only be sung by females, even in these days of LGBTQ.
Reuben James can be performed by everybody.
have you heard of a ship called the good Reuben James
manned by hard fighting men both of honor and fame?
she flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free
but tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea
tell me what were their names : tell me what were their names
did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
what were their names : tell me what were their names?
did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
well a hundred men went down in that dark watery grave
when that good ship went down only forty-four were saved
'twas the last day of october we saved the forty-four
from the cold ocean waters and the cold icy shore
it was there in the dark of that uncertain night
that we watched for the U-boats and waited for a fight
then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared
and they laid the Reuben James on that cold ocean floor
now tonight there are lights in our country so bright
in the farms and in the cities they're telling of the fight
and now our mighty battleships will steam the bounding main
and remember the name of that good Reuben James
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
G Em D7 G have you heard of a ship called the good Reuben James G Em D7 G manned by hard fighting men both of honor and fame G G7 C G she flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free Em Bm D7 G but tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea G G7 C A7 tell me what were their names tell me what were their names D7 C G did you have a friend on the good Reuben James G G7 C A7 what were their names tell me what were their names D7 C G did you have a friend on the good Reuben James
