Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems  

Dead Hand at the Tiller

Notes: words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1967 Schroder Music Company, renewed 1995.

There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship,
There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship.
The man up there, you think he steers,
But he's been dead for a thousand years,
There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship.

There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship,
There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship.
There is a man upon the bridge,
But he don't know what time it is,
There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship.

There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship,
There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship.
Don't know the time, don't see the clocks
And we are headed for the rocks,
There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship.

There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship,
There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship.
Go grab the wheel and pull her round
Or we will all be dead and drowned,
There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship.

There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship,
There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship.
The man up there, you think he steers,
But he's been dead for a thousand years,
There's a dead hand at the tiller of this ship.

Malvina Reynolds songbook(s) in which the music to this song appears:
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Other place(s) where the music to this song appears:
---- Broadside No. 86 (November 1967)

Malvina Reynolds recording(s) on which this song is performed:
---- [none]