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cory branan – the wreck of the sultana lyrics

[spoken]
oh i’ll play one
tell this quickest story as fast as i can, this is+
this about the worst maritime disaster in united states history
it happened about 17 miles north of memphis
but kinda disappeared, k!lled more people than the titanic, k!lled more people than fitz+ edmund fitzgerald
k!lled more people than a lot of the soldiers in the battles at+ so
and it involves soldiers, i’m just babbling now but, yeah
anyway it kinda disappeared from history books cause it happened the night that the civil war’s over, the night booth shoots lincoln, and the night they captured booth and shoot him, this happened, and so, anyway

[verse]
just after [?], two last bullets and a bell
for the honest and the actor, the tragic curtain fell
there beneath the flood of headlines in the mississippi spring
the wreck of the sultana lies, buried to this day
buried to this day, boys

the sultana was a steamboat, she made an orleans [?] run
when a greedy captain mason heard that since the war is done
and the union pows are free now, uncle sam
just paying for their passage home, five dollars every man

“well, that’s four ahead,” the captain said, calculating calm
a dollar per, to the officer, should grease the judas palm
so on a steamboat meant to carry 350, with crew
2300 heard it, a huddled multitude
of purple scars, and leather shadows mid+tattered stitched and torn
what little’s always left of glory’s human uniform
a human uniform, boys

and when you figure in civilian men, women, children too
that’s 500 more, plus the horses, cargo, coal and crew
and so it wasn’t, it wasn’t the numbers that night
you see, the boiler needed grave repairs
but the captain had rushed a patch job
as not to lose one precious fare

and so, asleep, afloat beneath a sleepy memphis sky
it came to pass, a flame, a flash
and death she opened wide

and the force of the blast took the fortunate fast
asleep, dreams to dust
but the rest awoke, chests to boat
with the thunder, and the thrust

as the smokestack smashed through the upper decks, a screaming accent fell
and a splintered rain of men and flames, pinned in a crush of h+ll
and diving in, the drowning men, and tangled acres roar
their frantic limbs heavy in the anesthetic cold

and it was swollen, that’s a solace
the river reaped her spoils
as a stony moon stared on and on
while the general recoils
until the morning sun rose warm upon the lucky living through
the h+ll and the high water mason steered them straight and to
now i ain’t sayin’ the captain was evil, i ain’t sayin’ he’s any good
just wherever he stood to profit, that’s where he stood

he may have stood ’til the flames forked over
paid dearly what the river pulls down
but all accounts’ll tell you how his body was never found

it was the end of the sultana, the end of many good men as well
so for now i’ll end the story they couldn’t count on time to tell
though deadlier than the titanic’s legendary fall
i guess it’s less romantic, mostly soldiers after all

more dead than [?], and others lesser known
more anthems send a soldier off, than ever sing him home
than ever sing him home, boys

[spoken]
thanks so much, i’mma do one last one
alright
thanks ardent, thanks everybody here, i really appreciate it

- cory branan lyrics

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