Bob Dylan – When The Ship Comes In Lyrics - Genius

2025, In ReviewFeaturedChartsVideosPromote Your MusicSign Up6When the Ship Comes InBob DylanProducerTom WilsonTrack 20 onThe Bootleg Series, Vols. 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 Jan. 13, 19641 viewer28.9K views31 Contributors

When the Ship Comes In Lyrics

[Verse 1]Oh, the time will come up when the winds will stopAnd the breeze will cease to be breathin'Like the stillness in the wind before the hurricane beginsThe hour that the ship comes in[Chorus]And the sea will split and the ships will hitAnd the sands on the shoreline will be shakingThen the tide will sound and the waves will poundAnd the mornin' will be a-breakin'[Verse 2]The fishes will laugh as they swim out of the pathAnd the seagulls, they'll be a-smilin'And the rocks on the sand will proudly standThe hour that the ship comes in[Chorus]And the words that are used for to get the ship confusedWill not be understood as they're spokenFor the chains of the sea will have busted in the nightAnd be buried on the bottom of the ocean[Verse 3]A song will lift as the mainsail shiftsAnd the boat drifts onto the shorelineAnd the sun will respect every face on the deckThe hour that the ship comes inSee Bob Dylan LiveGet tickets as low as $60You might also like[Chorus]And the sands will roll out a carpet of goldFor your weary toes to be a-touchin'And the ship's wise men will remind you once againThat the whole wide world is watchin'[Harmonica Solo][Verse 4]Oh, the foes will rise with the sleep still in their eyesAnd they'll jerk from their beds and think they're dreamin'But they'll pinch themselves and squeal and they'll know that it's for realThe hour that the ship comes in[Chorus]And they'll raise their hands sayin', "We'll meet all your demands"But we'll shout from the bow, "Your days are numbered"And like Pharoah's tribe, they'll be drownded in the tideAnd like Goliath, they'll be conquered6EmbedCancel

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AboutThis song bio is unreviewedSong Bio1 contributor

Inspired by a hotel clerk who refused to allow Dylan a room due to his “unwashed” appearance, the song, a classic dylanesque folk, also draws influence from Brecht’s and Weill’s opera song “Pirate Jenny” in its parallel poetic use of the ship as an instrument by which enemies, and in Dylan’s case the narrow minded ones that didn’t want to accept the ongoing cultural changes, are destroyed.

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Ask a questionWho produced “When the Ship Comes In” by Bob Dylan?When did Bob Dylan release “When the Ship Comes In”?Who wrote “When the Ship Comes In” by Bob Dylan?The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 (1991)Bob Dylan

1. 1. Hard Times in New York Town (Demo - 1961)
2. 2. He Was a Friend of Mine (Take 2)
3. 3. Man on the Street (Studio Outtake - 1961)
4. 4. No More Auction Block (Live at the Gaslight Cafe, New York, NY - October 1962)
5. 5. House Carpenter (Take 1)
6. 6. Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues (Studio Outtake - 1962)
7. 7. Let Me Die in My Footsteps (Studio Outtake - 1962)
8. 8. Rambling Gambling Willie (Studio Outtake)
9. 9. Talkin’ Hava Negeilah Blues (Studio Outtake - 1962)
10. 10. Quit Your Low Down Ways (Studio Outtake - 1962)
11. 11. Worried Blues (Studio Outtake - 1962)
12. 12. Kingsport Town (Freewheelin’ Outtake, NYC, 1962)
13. 13. Walkin’ Down the Line (Demo, 1963)
14. 14. Walls of Red Wing (Studio Outtake - 1963)
15. 15. Paths of Victory (Studio Outtake - 1963)
16. 16. Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY - October 1963)
17. 17. Who Killed Davey Moore? (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY - October 1963)
18. 18. Only a Hobo (Studio Outtake - 1963)
19. 19. Moonshiner (The Times They Are A-Changin’ Outtake, NYC, 1963)
20. 20. When the Ship Comes In
21. 21. The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Witmark Demo)
22. 22. Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie (Live at Town Hall, New York, NY - April 1963)
23. 23. Seven Curses (The Times They Are A-Changin’ Outtake, NYC, 1963)
24. 24. Eternal Circle
25. 25. Suze (The Cough Song)
26. 26. Mama, You Been on My Mind (Studio Outtake - 1964)
27. 27. Farewell, Angelina (Take 1, Solo Acoustic)
28. 28. Subterranean Homesick Blues (Take 1)
29. 29. If You Gotta Go, Go Now (Or Else You Got to Stay All Night) (Studio Outtake - 1965)
30. 30. Sitting on a Barbed-Wire Fence (Take 3)
31. 31. Like a Rolling Stone (Take 4, Rehearsal)
32. 32. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (Take 1, Remake) (Missing Lyrics)
33. 33. I’ll Keep It with Mine (Studio Outtake - 1966)
34. 34. She’s Your Lover Now (Studio Outtake - 1966)
35. 35. I Shall Be Released (Take 2)
36. 36. Santa-Fe (Studio Outtake - 1967)
37. 37. If Not For You (Alternate Version)
38. 38. Wallflower (Studio Outtake - 1971)
39. 39. Nobody ’Cept You (Studio Outtake - 1973)
40. 40. Tangled Up in Blue (9/17/74 Take 3, Remake)
41. 41. Call Letter Blues (9/16/74 Take 2)
42. 42. Idiot Wind (9/19/74, Take 4, Remake)
43. 43. If You See Her, Say Hello (9/16/74 Take 2)
44. 44. Golden Loom (Studio Outtake - 1975)
45. 45. Catfish (Studio Outtake - 1975)
46. 46. Seven Days (Live at the Curtis Hixon Convention Center, Tampa, FL - April 1976)
47. 47. Ye Shall Be Changed (Studio Outtake - 1979)
48. 48. Every Grain of Sand (Demo - 1980)
49. 49. You Changed My Life (Studio Outtake - 1981)
50. 50. Need a Woman (Studio Outtake - 1981)
51. 51. Angelina (Studio Outtake - 1981)
52. 52. Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart (Studio Outtake - 1983)
53. 53. Tell Me (Studio Outtake - 1983)
54. 54. Lord Protect My Child (Studio Outtake - 1983)
55. 55. Foot of Pride (Studio Outtake - 1983)
56. 56. Blind Willie McTell (Studio Outtake - 1983)
57. 57. When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky (Alternate Take) (Missing Lyrics)
58. 58. Series of Dreams (Studio Outtake - 1989)

The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964)Bob DylanExpand CreditsReleased onJanuary 13, 1964ProducerTom WilsonWriterBob DylanVocalsBob DylanAcoustic GuitarBob DylanHarmonicaBob DylanRecorded AtColumbia Records, New York City, NYWhen the Ship Comes In CoversWhen The Ship Comes In by Idlewild, When the Ship Comes In by Peter, Paul and Mary, When the Ship Comes In by Timothée Chalamet & Edward Norton, When the Ship Comes In by The Chieftains (Ft. The Decemberists), When the Ship Comes In by The Pogues, When the Ship Comes In by The Hollies, When the Ship Comes In (Dylan 30th Anniversary) by The Clancy Brothers (Ft. Robbie O’Connell & Tommy Makem) & When the Ship Comes In by Marcus Carl FranklinWhen the Ship Comes In Live PerformancesWhen the Ship Comes In (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY - 1963) by Bob DylanView When the Ship Comes In samplesTagsRockIn EnglishUSAAcousticFolkExpand CommentsAdd a commentSign Up And Drop Knowledge 🤓Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love.Sign Up