Title: Caribbean Wind
Artist: Bob Dylan
Album: Biograph (Track #1)
Duration: 05:54
Label: Sony Music Entertainment
(as sung at the Fox Warfield theatre, San Francisco November 12, 1980
transcription clearly unfinished!)
She was from Haiti, fair brown and intense
And then i took over the Lord
Attendin' the show in Miami, in the theater of divine company.
Talkin' about Jesus, talked about the rain
She told me about the vision, told me about the pain
That has arisen from the ashes abided in her memory.
Is she a child or a woman? i really can't say,
Something about her said, "Trust me" anyway
As the days turned to minutes and the minutes turned back into hours.
Could i've been used and played as a pawn?
It certainly was possible as the gay night wore on
But victory was mine, and i held it with the help of God's power.
And that Caribbean wind still blows from Trinidad to Mexico
The circle of light and the furnace of desire
And them distant ships of liberty on them iron waves so bold and free
Bringing everything that's near to me, nearer to the fire.
Shadows grew closer as we touched on the floor
Prodigal son sitting next to the door
Preaching resistance, waitin' for the night to arrive.
He was well connected, but his heart was a snare
'Cause she had left him to die in there
And i knew he could get out while he still was alive.
Stars on my balcony, buzz in my head
Slayin' [Bob Dylan?] in my bed
Street band playin', "Nearer My God To Thee."
She never did see me where the mission bells ring
She said, "I know what you're thinkin', but there ain't a thing
You can do about it, so you might as well agree to agree'.'
And that Caribbean wind blows hard from the Valley coast into my backyard
Drivin' all your love to the furnace of desire
And them distant ships of liberty on them iron waves so bold and free
Bringing everything that's near to me, nearer to the fire.
Atlantic City by the cruel sea
I hear a voice cryin' "Daddy", i always think it's for me
But it's only the silence in the buttermilk hills that call.
Bearin' new messages, bringin' evil reports
Of riotin' armies and time that is short
And earthquakes and train wrecks and death threats written on walls.
Would I have married her? i don't know, i suppose
She had bells on her braids and they hung to her toes
The curtain was risin' and like they say, the ship will sail at dawn.
And i felt it come over me, some kind of gloom
My voice said, "Come on with me girl, I got plenty of room."
But i know i'd be lyin', and besides she had already gone.
And that Caribbean wind still howls from Tokyo to the British Isles
We never walked in to that furnace of desire
And them distant ships of liberty on 'em iron waves so bold and free
Bringing everything that's near to me, nearer to the fire.