Key: F
Introduction: Em
C7
D7
Em
E7sus4/G
It's all there in the gospels, the Magdalene girl
E7sus4/G
C
D
Comes to pay her respects, but her mind is awhirl.
Em
E7sus4/G
When she finds the tomb empty, the stone had been rolled,
E7sus4/G
C
D
Not a sign of a corpse in the dark and the cold.
C7
When she reaches the door, sees an unholy sight,
D7
There's this solitary figure in a halo of light.
E7
He just carries on floating past Calvary Hill,
F#7
In an almighty hurry, aye but she might catch him still.
Em
E7sus4/G
"Tell me where are ye going Lord, and why in such haste?"
E7sus4/G
C
D
"Now don't hinder me woman, I've no time to waste!
Em
E7sus4/G
For they're launching a boat on the morrow at noon,
E7sus4/G
C
D
And I have to be there before daybreak.
C7
Oh I canna be missing, the lads'll expect me,
D7
Why else would the good Lord himself resurrect me?
E7
For nothing will stop me, I have to prevail,
F#7
Through the teeth of this tempest, in the mouth of a gale,
Em
E7sus4/G
May the angels protect me if all else should fail,
Em
E7sus4/G
When the last ship sails."
Em
E7sus4/G
Oh the roar of the chains and the cracking of timbers,
Em
E7sus4/G
The noise at the end of the world in your ears,
Em
E7sus4/G
As a mountain of steel makes its way to the sea,
Em
E7sus4/G
And the last ship sails..
Em
E7sus4/G
It's a strange kind of beauty, It's cold and austere,
Em
E7sus4/G
And whatever it was that ye've done to be here,
Em
E7sus4/G
It's the sum of yr hopes yr despairs and yr fears,
Em
E7sus4/G
When the last ship sails.
C7
Well the first to arrive saw these signs in the east,
D7
Like that strange moving finger at Balthazar's Feast,
Em
E7sus4/G
Where they asked the advice of some wandering priest,
E7sus4/G
C
D
And the sad ghosts of men whom they'd thought long deceased,
Em
E7sus4/G
And whatever got said, they'd be counted at least,
Em
E7sus4/G
When the last ship sails.
Em
E7sus4/G
Oh the roar of the chains and the cracking of timbers,
Em
E7sus4/G
The noise at the end of the world in your ears,
Em
E7sus4/G
As a mountain of steel makes its way to the sea,
Em
E7sus4/G
And the last ship sails..
Em
E7sus4/G
And whatever you'd promised, whatever you've done,
Em
E7sus4/G
And whatever the station in life you've become.
Em
E7sus4/G
In the name of the Father, in the name of the Son,
Em
E7sus4/G
And whatever the weave of this life that you've spun,
Em
E7sus4/G
On the Earth or in Heaven or under the Sun,
Em
E7sus4/G
When the last ship sails.
Em
E7sus4/G
Ohhh the last ship sails.
Em
E7sus4/G
Ohhh the last ship sails.