The Commodores Compliments

Dm C Bbmaj F Now gather round, you schooner-men, for tonight there's a yarn toward Gm Bbmaj F Tis a tale of honor from the days when against the States we warred C D Am The decent act of a decent man, and I know of what I tell Bbmaj C Bbmaj C I'm the last to choke on powder-smoke in the War of 1812 Dm C Bbmaj F We were sailing in a convoy, out on Lake Ontario Gm Bbmaj F Our ship she was the Moira, and we had a sloop in tow C D Am There was Yankee sail aplenty, we all knew upon the lake Bbmaj C Bbmaj C To come under the guns of a Yankee ship was a chance we'd have to take F Bbmaj It's a hard row in life we hoe, all of us duty-bound F Bbmaj We eat, drink, and rarely think beyond what the task allows Dm Gmaj But there's a generous strand in every man, whether he will or not Bbmaj F So here's a pail of Canadian ale to a man who paused for thought Dm C Bbmaj F Full forty miles to Kingston yet, when the big lake went to glass Gm Bbmaj F And the smothering snow began to fall, we were dead calm thick and fast C D Am The shrouds hung slack and empty - no chance to make harbor now Bbmaj C Bbmaj C The snow fell heavy as drunken sleep and we couldn't see stern to prow Dm C Bbmaj F As we peered around in a sea of white, a menacing darkness loomed Gm Bbmaj F And slow as death, a Yankee warship ranged up into view C D Am Twas Commodor Chauncey's flagship, the Oneida, brig of war Bbmaj C Bbmaj C We knew she'd stowed the Sittko in just a couple of days before F Bbmaj It's a hard row in life we hoe, all of us duty-bound F Bbmaj We eat, drink, and rarely think beyond what the task allows Dm Gmaj But there's a generous strand in every man, whether he will or not Bbmaj F So here's a pail of Canadian ale to a man who paused for thought Dm C Bbmaj F She couldn't have been ten fathoms off, she loomed like a mountainside Gm Bbmaj F Her flag hung red like an angry eye, and her guns were all a-primed C D Am Fair braced were we for a hail of shot, for double our weight she bore Bbmaj C Bbmaj C But before a single flint was struck, we heard our captain roar Dm C Bbmaj F "Pray stand away from the sloop we tow, there's precious cargo there, Gm Bbmaj F We'll cut her loose to drift a league, then we'll fight you fair and square C D Am We fear you not, nor our own demise, it's rather the sloop we mind, Bbmaj C Bbmaj C What's in her hold is worth much more than both our ships combined." F Bbmaj It's a hard row in life we hoe, all of us duty-bound F Bbmaj We eat, drink, and rarely think beyond what the task allows Dm Gmaj But there's a generous strand in every man, whether he will or not Bbmaj F So here's a pail of Canadian ale to a man who paused for thought Dm C Bbmaj F "We care not what you transport, you'll neither pass nor run. Gm Bbmaj F You're in no place to bargain, we outgun you two to one!" C D Am "In the name of God!" our captain cried, "Do not go so hard, Bbmaj C Bbmaj C Are you so brass-bound that you cannot think like a man in this regard? Dm C Bbmaj F These three weeks dead is General Brock, and laid beneath the ground, Gm Bbmaj F The sloop carries his possessions and to Guernsey we are bound C D Am His sword, his plate, his uniform, his papers, books, and arms, Bbmaj C Bbmaj C Our charge is to convey them back to Guernsey without harm." Dm C Bbmaj F The Stars and Stripes from the main peak hung, loft in a breeze just come, Gm Bbmaj F And the massive brig swung just enough to present us all eight guns, C D Am "If indeed the effects of Sir Isaac Brock are what you do convey, Bbmaj C Bbmaj C The Commodore's compliments to you all, we'll meet another day!" F Bbmaj It's a hard row in life we hoe, all of us duty-bound F Bbmaj We eat, drink, and rarely think beyond what the task allows Dm Gmaj But there's a generous strand in every man, whether he will or not Bbmaj F So here's a pail of Canadian ale to a man who paused for thought Repeat Chorus F Bbmaj It's a hard row in life we hoe, all of us duty-bound F Bbmaj We eat, drink, and rarely think beyond what the task allows Dm Gmaj But there's a generous strand in every man, whether he will or not Bbmaj F So here's a pail of Canadian ale to a man who paused for thought