I got this from a Leadbelly listserv:
The last verse is really bogus...
Chorus:
>
>We're in the same boat brother, we're in the same boat brother
>And if you shake one end you're going to rock the other,
>It's the same boat brother
>
>Oh Lordy look down, from His holy place
>say Lordy me but I see a face,
>I am about to launch the human race,
>So they give him a boat with a mixed up crew,
>With eyes of black and brown and blue,
>So that's how come that you and I
>Got just one world with just one sky.
>
>[Chorus]
>
>So the boat rode on, through the stormy breeze
>On many a rock and many a reef
>What kept them going was a great belief
>So they had to learn to navigate
>That human race --a special place
>If they didn't wanna be in Jonas' shoes,
>They'd better be mates on this here cruise.
>
>[Chorus]
>
>But a ball of blue, somewhere in space
>Oh the keel was smashed and for your brain
>And the steel pulled out from all the main
>Oh it took some time for the crew to learn
>When it's bad for the boat it ain't good for the stern
>But it had to take fire in chain Bay
>For the starboard deck going blaze away
>
>[Chorus]
>
>
>>I'm sending this request again because I wasn't recieving messages from
>>this list so if you replied before please resend it . Thanks. Does anyone
>>know where I can find the lyrics to the song; "Same Boat Brother" which
>>appears on the Last Sessions recordings. I have listened to that great
>>humanist anthem so many times, and yet there are just some lines that I
>>cannot make out. Thanks
>>


Thanks for the lyrics. I have never gotten this far with the song. I added my interpretation in parantheses.

Chorus:

We're in the same boat brother, we're in the same boat brother
And if you shake one end you're going to rock the other,
It's the same boat brother

Oh Lordy look down, from His holy place
say Lordy me but I see a face, (what a see of space)
I am about to launch the human race,
So they give him a boat with a mixed up crew, (So he built him a boat with a mixed up crew,)
With eyes of black and brown and blue,
So that's how come that you and I
Got just one world with just one sky.

[Chorus]

So the boat rode on, through the stormy breeze (storm and grief)
On many a rock and many a reef (hit many a rock..)
What kept them going was a great belief
So they had to learn to navigate
That human race --a special place
If they didn't wanna be in Jonas' shoes,
They'd better be mates on this here cruise.

[Chorus]

But a ball of blue, somewhere in space
Oh the keel was smashed and for your brain
And the steel pulled out from all the main
Oh it took some time for the crew to learn
When it's bad for the boat it ain't good for the stern
But it had to take fire in chain Bay
For the starboard deck going blaze away

[Chorus]