Harry Chapin
Dance Band on the Titanic
[Chorus]
Dance band on the Titanic
Sing "Nearer My God to Thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?

[Verse 1]
Mama stood crying at the dockside
Saying "Please son, don't take this trip"
I said "Mama, sweet Mama, don't you worry none
Even God couldn't sink this ship"

[Verse 2]
Well, the whistle blew and they turned the screws
It turned the water into foam
Destination—sweet salvation
Goodbye home sweet home

[Chorus]
I'm in the dance band on the Titanic
Sing "Nearer My God to Thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?

[Verse 3]
There was a trombone and a saxophone
The bass and drums were cooking on the bandstand
And I was strumming in the middle with this dude on the fiddle
And we were three days out from land
[Verse 4]
Now the foghorn's jammed and moaning
Hear it groaning through the misty night
I heard the lookout shout down "There's icebergs around
But still everything's alright"

[Chorus]
Oh, the dance band on the Titanic
Sing "Nearer My God to Thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?

[Bridge]
They were burning all the flares for candles
In the banquet they were throwing in first class
And we were blowing waltzes in the ballroom
When the universe went crash

[Verse 5]
"There's no way that this could happen"
I could hear the old captain curse
He ordered "Lifeboats away"—that's when I heard the chaplain say
"Women, children and chaplains first"

[Verse 6]
Well, they soon used up all of the lifeboats
But there were a lot of us left on board
I heard the drummer saying "Boys, just keep playing
Now we're doing this date for the Lord"
[Chorus]
I heard the dance band on the Titanic
Sing "Nearer My God to Thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?

[Bridge]
There's a wild-eyed boy in the radio shack
He's the last remaining guest
He was tapping in a Morse code frenzy
Tapping "Please God, S.O.S."

[Verse 7]
Jesus Christ can walk on the water
Where a music man will drown
They say that Nero fiddled while Rome burned up
Well, I'll be strumming as the ship go down

[Chorus]
I'm in the dance band on the Titanic
Sing "Nearer My God to Thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?
Dance band on the Titanic
Sing "Nearer My God to Thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?
Dance band on the Titanic
Sing "Nearer My God to Thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?