Am
Here I am again in the ship's post office
G
I want to send a telegram
Bm
Send it to the captain
       Em
Asking where the hell I am

[Verse]
Am
I've been on this luxury cruise
    G
For twenty five years or more
         Bm
And I've just begun to wonder
Em
Where we're headed for

[Chorus]
        G                    D                 Am
And the Band keeps playing American songs from 1973
G                   D
Getting wise to the officer's lies
          Am
That we've even got a country
    G               D
You say we're independent
               Am
And we've even got the right to choose
           G             D
Well we're sick of doing nothing
D
We'd like some work
D
We'd like some work
D
We'd like some work to do

[Instrumental]
Am G Em G Am G Am

Am
Swimming pools, the cocktail parties
    G
You keep us plied with drink
            Bm
But when we cruised through South East Asia
Em
It made us stop and think

A
We never take on passengers
       G
Though we seem to have lots of room
      Bm
And I can't escape the notion captain
Em
That this is a floating tomb


[Chorus]
        G                    D                 Am
And the Band keeps playing American songs from 1973
G                   D
Getting wise to the officer's lies
          Am
That we've even got a country
    G               D
You say we're independent
               Am
And we've even got the right to choose
           G             D
Well we're sick of doing nothing
D
We'd like some work
D
We'd like some work
D
We'd like some work to do

A
Some of us have calculated
       G
We must be short of oil
Bm
Someone mentioned fission
Em
And blood began to boil

A
The passengers are restless, captain
       G
This is how they feel
Bm
Angry at how it came to be you
Em
Who sits beside the wheel


[Chorus]
        G                    D                 Am
And the Band keeps playing American songs from 1973
G                   D
Getting wise to the officer's lies
          Am
That we've even got a country
    G               D
You say we're independent
               Am
And we've even got the right to choose
           G             D
Well we're sick of doing nothing
D
We'd like some work
D
We'd like some work
D
We'd like some work to do

N.C
And the band keeps playing the Imperial Waltz From far across the sea
N.C
Not a long way from discontent
N.C
To open mutiny
    G             D
You say we're independent
               Am
And we've even got the right to choose
           G             D
Well we're sick of being passengers
D
We've got some work
D
We've got some work
D
We've got some work to do