Rescue Mission – Kristofferson et al (chords - Michael Thompson - Canberra AU) INTRO: Dm C Dm C Dm F C The captain touched his swagger stick up to his golden eye Dm C Dm And boogied thru the vestibule while bidding us goodbye Am C
The enemy surrounds us and our spirit's almost gone Dm C Dm The devil take the cavarly that sold us for a song BREAK: Dm C "If I'd've been a carpenter," the swarthy sergeant said "I'd never seen this ugly thing that hangs above my head The hell with all your heroes and the wounds they hope to show I'm just a simple soldier, son, with one more year to go" BREAK The albatross was tiring and the cook was in a stew The filthy little cabin boy was whizzing in my shoe The Captain's wife was aging, and the first mate heard her scream When Tommy slipped tabasco in the Captain's vaseline BREAK "Our time will soon be gone" he said, "it's all we've left to lose We've shot our ammunition and we're all but out of booze So here's to Imra Donegal, here's to Nellie Blye And here's to my old friend," he said, and kissed his ass goodbye BREAK "Give off, give off, you sorry lot, give off," the Captain cried "We've lost our bloody anchor and we're drifting with the tide The swollen surf is pounding like a thousand cannons' roar And I shake the hand of any man who guides us into shore" BREAK "We're saved, we're saved," the soldiers said, "we're saved" the soldiers cried And soldiers climbed aboard while sailors left from either side Some swabbies hit the minefield and the rifles all got the rest And somewhere there's a schooner sinkin' slowly in the west Dm C Dm C Dm