When the Ship Comes In, Part 2

Well over two months ago, I held my breath and published my last post before the election: When the Ship Comes In. It consisted of nothing more than the first part of the lyrics to the famous Bob Dylan song.

Never had a song spoken out to me more; I had listened to it over and over for days before the election, and it is the one my daughter and I chose to blare out of the car as we triumphantly drove into Rodez the morning after, honking our horn and each raising an arm through the car window into the pouring rain.

At the time I didn't dare post the rest of the lyrics. First, it seemed so appropriate to finish with the line "the whole wide world is watchin'." Second, victory was not certain, and although the whole song uses the future tense, I couldn't quite bear to go so far as "you'll be conquered."

Of course Obama, in his laudable "let's work together" mentality, is certainly a better person than I am, for I cannot shake my rage over what Americans have gone through the past eight years. In spite of all the joy and hope in the USA now, I cannot forget that there were-- and still are -- foes.

And we finally beat them.

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 Pharaoh's tribe,
They'll be drownded in the tide,
And like Goliath, they'll be conquered.

(Extract from "When the Ship Comes In" by Bob Dylan)

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