Reuben James - guitar chords and comments

Lyrics without distraction HERE

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.

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