When the Ship Comes In

"When the Ship Comes In"
Song by Bob Dylan from the album The Times They Are a-Changin'
Released	January 13, 1964
Recorded	October 23, 1963
Genre	Folk
Length	3:18
Label	Columbia
Writer	Bob Dylan
Producer	Tom Wilson
The Times They Are a-Changin' track listing
Side one "The Times They Are a-Changin'" "Ballad of Hollis Brown" "With God on Our Side" "One Too Many Mornings" "North Country Blues" Side two "Only a Pawn in Their Game" "Boots of Spanish Leather" "When the Ship Comes In" "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" "Restless Farewell"

"When the Ship Comes In" is a folk music song by Bob Dylan, released on his third album, The Times They Are a-Changin', in 1964.

Joan Baez states in the documentary film No Direction Home that the song was, more or less, inspired by a hotel clerk who refused to allow Dylan a room due to his "unwashed" appearance (he was not famous outside of the folk movement at this time). The song then grew into a sprawling epic allegory about vanquishing the oppressive "powers that be". Another inspiration was the Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill song, "Jenny the pirate's bride".^{[citation needed]}

According to Heylin, "When The Ship Comes In" was written in August 1963 "in a fit of pique, in a hotel room, after his unkempt appearance had led an impertinent hotel clerk to refuse him admission until his companion, Joan Baez, had vouched for his good character."^{[citation needed]} Heylin speculates that "Jenny's Song" from Brecht and Weill's Threepenny Opera was also an inspiration: "As Pirate Jenny dreams of the destruction of all her enemies by a mysterious ship, so Dylan envisages the neophobes being swept aside in 'the hour when the ship comes in'." Dylan's former girlfriend Suze Rotolo recalls that her "interest in Brecht was certainly an influence on him. I was working for the Circle in the Square Theater and he came to listen all the time. He was very affected by the song that Lotte Lenya's known for, 'Pirate Jenny'."^{[citation needed]}

Shortly after Dylan completed the song in 1963, he and Baez performed it together at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.

On perhaps the biggest stage of his career, Dylan performed the song during Live Aid on July 13, 1985, accompanied by Keith Richards and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones.

Covers

• Peter, Paul and Mary covered the song in their 1965 album A Song Will Rise.
• The Irish folk group The Clancy Brothers performed this song at the Bob Dylan The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration. They also recorded it on their 1995 album "Older But NO Wiser".
• Seminal Irish punk rock band The Pogues covered the track on their 1996 album, Pogue Mahone.
• Scottish rock band Idlewild recorded the song as a b-side to their single "These Wooden Ideas".
• Marcus Carl Franklin covered the song in the Dylan-inspired movie I'm Not There. This version of the song can be found on the original soundtrack of the movie.
• Arlo Guthrie has performed the song on his 1972 album Hobo's Lullaby as well as in concert, notably on the Live In Sydney album.
• The song is covered on Progressive Labor Party's second LP A World to Win.
• The Hollies covered this song on their album Hollies sing Dylan.
• The Swedish singers Mikael Wiehe and Totta Näslund sing a Swedish version on their album Totta & Wiehe - Dylan.
• Hugues Aufray covered the song in French as Le jour ou le bateau viendra.
• Outernational with Jim Keltner covered the song on 2012 album Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International.

References

Talbot-McGuire....(Terry Talbot and Barry McGuire) When Dinosaurs Walked The Earth....(1995) When The Ship Comes In....(lead vocal: Barry McGuire)

Referenced in The Dead Weather song 'Will There Be Enough Water' - "Will there be enough water, when my ship comes in".

External links

• Lyrics on BobDylan.com