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On a brig loaded with timber headed for the north |
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Maine coast, |
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They took on some rough seas. |
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The captain and his slave fought back the heavy waves, |
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But they were threatening to break her up so badly. |
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See two days before they left the outer banks, |
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And made good time up to |
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Boston. But just north of |
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Essex the sky grew dark, |
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He missed his mark he was making, |
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And life can change so fast. |
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The captain had seen many a day, |
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When the winds blew and the waters raged. |
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But it was just a part of the life he made for himself, |
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Running the coast of |
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New England. |
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The ship heaved and cracked, |
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Threw the men on their backs as the water came rushing in. |
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The captain fought hard yet. |
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He yelled above the splintering wreck, |
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I have done you wrong son. |
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I should be forsaken for what |
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I have done. |
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But Ben reached a timber to stay afloat. |
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He grabbed the captain's braided coat. |
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He swam him to the nearest shore. |
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Dragged him up 'til he couldn't pull no more, |
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And left him breathin', yeah left him breathin' dry. |
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The captain said in all my days, |
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I have never seen anybody save the very person who kept him enslaved. |
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God dam it |
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Ben, you should have your freedom |
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For what you have done. |
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And I should be forsaken for what |
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I have done. |
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Somewhere off the |
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Maine coast, |
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At the mouth of the |
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New Meadows |
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River there's an island, |
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Where a marooned man lived out his life quietly under tied and sky. |
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Never forgetting when the sea rose up so high. |
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The captain said in all my days, |
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I have never seen anybody save the very person who kept him enslaved. |
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God dam it |
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Ben, you should have your freedom |
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For what you have done. |
