When the Ship Comes In

"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]}

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.
• 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.

References

External links

• Lyrics on BobDylan.com

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