What were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
Have you heard of a ship called the good Reuben James?
Manned by hard fighting men both of honor and of fame.
She flew the Stars and Stripes for the land of the free,
but tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea.
Chorus:
Tell me, what were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
What were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
It was there in the dark of that uncertain night.
That we watched for the U-boats and waited for the fight.
Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion's roar.
And they lay the Reuben James on that cold ocean floor.
(Chorus)
One hundred men went down to their dark and watery graves.
When that good ship went down, only forty-four were saved.
'Twas the last day of October they saved forty-four from the dark,
icy water of that cold Iceland shore.
(Chorus)
Many years have passed since those brave men are gone.
Those cold, icy waters, they're still and they're calm.
Many years have passed and still I wonder why
the worst of men must fight and the best of men must die!
(Chorus)
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
Have you heard of a ship called the good Reuben James?
Manned by hard fighting men both of honor and of fame.
She flew the Stars and Stripes for the land of the free,
but tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea.
Chorus:
Tell me, what were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
What were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
It was there in the dark of that uncertain night.
That we watched for the U-boats and waited for the fight.
Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion's roar.
And they lay the Reuben James on that cold ocean floor.
(Chorus)
One hundred men went down to their dark and watery graves.
When that good ship went down, only forty-four were saved.
'Twas the last day of October they saved forty-four from the dark,
icy water of that cold Iceland shore.
(Chorus)
Many years have passed since those brave men are gone.
Those cold, icy waters, they're still and they're calm.
Many years have passed and still I wonder why
the worst of men must fight and the best of men must die!
(Chorus)