When the Ship Comes In

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 sea will split

And the ships will hit

And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking.

Then the tide will sound

And the waves will pound

And the morning will be breaking.

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.

A song will lift

As the mainsail shifts

And the boat drifts on to 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 your 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.

And 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.

song

Special on Tommy Makem