When the Ship Comes In

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“When the Ship Comes In”
Album cover
Song by Bob Dylan
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
"Boots of Spanish Leather" (7) "When the Ship Comes In" (8) "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" (9)

"When the Ship Comes In" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his 3rd studio album The Times They Are a-Changin' in 1964. Joan Baez stated in the documentary film No Direction Home that "When the Ship Comes In" was, more or less, inspired by a hotel clerk that 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".

[edit] Covers

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 during their Shane MacGowan-less period (1991-2001) on the 1996 album, Pogue Mahone.

Scottish rock band Idlewild recorded the song as a b-side to their single "These Wooden Ideas".

Marcus Carl Franklin also covered the song in the movie I'm Not There. This version of the song can be found on the original soundtrack of the movie.