Ballad Of The Great Eastern chords by Sting
Guitar chords with lyrics
- Difficulty: Intermediate 💪
Key: Gm
Chorus:
Gm F
In 18 hundred and 59, the engineer Brunel
Gm Dm
Would build the greatest ship afloat, and rule the ocean's swell
B C
19,000 tons of steel they used to shape the mighty keel
Eb F
Forged inside the smelter where they made the gates of Hell
Gm
And the name upon the contract, Isambard Brunel
Verse:
Gm F
As day-by-day the monster grew, the engineer Brunel
Gm Dm
Would watch the Devil's handiwork, and woe betide a man who shirks
B C
Or slows the pace to build the keel, 19,000 tons of steel
Eb F
Anyone with eyes to see is but a bride of Hell
G Gm
And the name upon the draftsman's chart, Isambard Brunel
Eb F
A riveter was on the hull with his apprentice lad
Cm Dm
He'd served his time with the older man, some say it was his dad
B C
200 men upon the shift but when the day is done
F Dm
The count is hundred 98, before the setting sun
B C
They searched the yard all through the night until the morning bell
Eb F
No more delays are countenanced by Isambard Brunel
B C
And so they work a double shift, to make the time in full
Eb Gm
No mention of the missing men, they seal the double hull
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Interlude:
Gm F Gm Dm
G F
The ship was launched upon the tide and all the townsfolk cheered
Cm Dm7
A brass band played but not a word of omens they had feared
Cm Bb
But before the afternoon was out, the celebration wrecked
Eb F Dm
A dignitary clutched his heart, and collapsed upon the deck
Bb C
No doctors could revive him as the telegraphs would tell
Eb G
And the name upon the coffin, Isambard Brunel
Em Gm
And now upon the open sea, the mighty ship did plough
A7 Bm
But many feared the darkness, in the shadow of its prow
G A
An explosion on the lower deck, would take the souls of five
C Db D
With a growing superstition among the sailors still alive
Em D
The captain and his boy are lost while rowing to the shore
Em Bm
The crew will threaten mutiny and say they'll work no more
G A
They began to say the ship was cursed, they hadn't even seen the worst
C D
They'd signed on able-bodied men, but they wouldn't sail to Hell
C Em
When the name upon the manifest is Isambard Brunel
N.C.
For 14 years that ship will sail, misfortune taken hard
The owners barely find a crew to reach the breakers' yard
And as they take the plates apart, unseal the double hull
The breakers call the foreman over, they'd found a human skull
And then they find the younger man, forced to understand
That in the hour of their torment, he'd reached his father's hand
Chorus:
Gm F
In 18 hundred and 59, the engineer Brunel
Gm Dm
Would build the greatest ship afloat, and rule the ocean's swell
B C
The final shift was over and the breakers hammers fell
Eb F
and the name upon the manifest the contract signed in hell
C Gm
Was the same as on the drafttsmans chart, Isambard Brunel
Outro:
Gm F Gm Dm Published:
Last updated: