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When the Ship Comes in

Written by: Bob Dylan Oh the time will come up When the winds will stop And the breeze will cease to be breathin’ Like the stillness in the wind ’Fore the hurricane begins The hour when the ship comes in Oh the seas will split And the ship will hit And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking Then the tide will sound And the wind will pound And the morning will be breaking Oh the fishes will laugh As they swim out of the path And the seagulls they’ll be smiling And the rocks on the sand Will proudly stand The hour that the ship comes in And the words that are used For to get the ship confused Will not be understood as they’re spoken For the chains of the sea Will have busted in the night And will be buried at the bottom of the ocean A song will lift As the mainsail shifts And the boat drifts on to the shoreline And the sun will respect Every face on the deck The hour that the ship comes in Then the sands will roll Out a carpet of gold For your weary toes to be a-touchin’ And the ship’s wise men Will remind you once again That the whole wide world is watchin’ Oh the foes will rise With the sleep still in their eyes And they’ll jerk from their beds and think they’re dreamin’ But they’ll pinch themselves and squeal And know that it’s for real The hour when the ship comes in Then 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 tide And like Goliath, they’ll be conquered

Copyright © 1963, 1964 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1991, 1992 by Special Rider Music

Appears on

The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Original Release) BUY The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964 - Original Release) BUY The Bootleg Series, Vol 1-3: Rare & Unreleased 1961-1991 (1991 - Original Release) BUY The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (1993 - Original Release) BUY The Bootleg Series, Vol 7: No Direction Home (2005 - Live) BUY The Original Mono Recordings (2010 - Mono) BUY The Bootleg Series, Vol 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (2010 - Original Release) BUY The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration – Deluxe Edition (2014 - Other Performer) BUY Live 1962-1966 – Rare Performances From The Copyright Collections (2018 - Live) BUY First Played Oct 26, 1963 Last Played Jul 13, 1985 times Played 3 View All

Lyrics 1961-2012

A beautiful, comprehensive volume of Dylan’s lyrics, from the beginning of his career through the present day-with the songwriter’s edits to dozens of songs, appearing here for the first time.

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