Bob Dylan – Caribbean Wind (very rare! San Francisco – November 12, 1980)
Fox Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, California, 12 November 1980
Only known performance of Caribbean Wind. Later recorded at the Shot Of Love sessions in 1981 and finally released in 1985. Lyrics differ on this early version.
“She was from Haiti, bowed down at the table
And then I took over the Lord
At the show in Miami, in the theater of divine company.
Talkin’ ’bout Jesus, talked about the rain
She told me about the vision, told me about the pain
That has risen from the essence and the dividing of memory.
Is she a child or a woman? I really can’t say,
Something about her said, “Trust me anyway”
As the years turned to minutes and the minutes turned back into hours
What about you, playin’ 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 move closer as we touched on the floor
Prodigal son sitting next to the door
Preaching resistance, waiting for the night to arrive
He was well connected, but her heart was a snare
Cause she had left him to die in there
But 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 thinking, 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 hall that call
Bearin’ new messages, bringing evil reports
Of rioting 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 in her braids and they hung to her toes
The curtain was rising and, like they say, the ship will sail at dawn
And I felt it come over me, some kind of glow
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 them iron waves so bold and free
Bringing everything that’s near to me nearer to the fire.”