Aug. 1963 When the Ship Comes In - It did last night, 45 years later

[Waiting For Everyman]

Run time: 03:07 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vhNCRlXm1s   Posted on YouTube: March 16, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: November 05, 2008 By DU Member: Waiting For Everyman Views on DU: 439

 
Bob Dylan and Joan Baez singing
From News footage, Washington D.C. Civil Rights March, Aug. 30, 1963
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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
Before the hurricane begins,
The hour that the ship comes in.

Then the seas will split
And the ships will hit
And the sands on the shoreline will be shakin'
Then the tide will sound
And the wind will pound
And the mornin' will be breakin'.

Oh the fishes will laugh
As they swim out of the path
And the seagulls they'll be a-smilin'
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 be buried on the bottom of the ocean.

Oh a song will lift
As the mainsail shifts
And the boat drifts onto 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 our 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 they'll know that it's for real,
The hour that 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 Pharaoh's tribe,
They'll be drownded in the tide,
And like Goliath, they'll be conquered.

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"For the chains of the sea will have busted in the night... "

"They'll pinch themselves and squeal, and they'll know that it's for real... "

Reminds me of watching the election coverage last night, somehow.

[jefferson_dem]

1. Thanks for this.

This song is as majestic as they come. As you see, I've had the lyrics as my siggy for several months now. Perhaps I'll never change it.

[Waiting For Everyman]

2. This song gets to me, especially on that day at that event.

MLK gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at that march. I remember it being on the TV news - I was 13 then, and lived about 40 miles away.

It's amazing looking back on it, how young Dylan and Baez were, to find themselves "improvising" in front of such a huge crowd. It was unprecedented at that time - there were no big concerts like today and there had been no similar "marches" on Washington since the veterans' one in the 1930s, I think.

It's a very prophetic song, and a terrific sig line!