TempestBob Dylan

[Verse 1]
The pale moon rose in its glory
Out o'er the Western town
She told a sad, sad story
Of the great ship that went down

[Verse 2]
T'was the fourteenth day of April
Over the waves she rode
Sailing into tomorrow
To a gilded age foretold

[Verse 3]
The night was black with starlight
The seas were sharp and clear
Moving through the shadows
The promised hour was near

[Verse 4]
Lights were holding steady
Gliding over the foam
All the lords and ladies
Heading for their eternal home

[Verse 5]
The chandeliers were swaying
From the balustrades above
The orchestra was playing
Songs of faded love

[Verse 6]
The watchman, he lay dreaming
As the ballroom dancers twirled
He dreamed the Titanic was sinking
Into the underworld

[Verse 7]
Leo took his sketchbook
He was often so inclined
He closed his eyes and painted
The scenery in his mind

[Verse 8]
Cupid struck his bosom
And broke it with a snap
The closest woman to him
He fell into her lap

[Verse 9]
He heard a loud commotion
Something sounded wrong
His inner spirit was saying
That he couldn't stand here long

[Verse 10]
He staggered to the quarterdeck
No time now to sleep
Water on the quarterdeck
Already three foot deep

[Verse 11]
Smokestack was leaning sideways
Heavy feet began to pound
He walked into the whirlwind
Sky splitting all around

[Verse 12]
The ship was going under
The universe had opened wide
The roll was called up yonder
The angels turned aside

[Verse 13]
Lights down in the hallway
Flickering dim and dull
Dead bodies already floating
In the double bottom hull

[Verse 14]
The engines then exploded
Propellers they failed to start
The boilers overloaded
The ship's bow split apart

[Verse 15]
Passengers were flying
Backward, forward, far and fast
They mumbled, fumbled, and tumbled
Each one more weary than the last

[Verse 16]
The veil was torn asunder
'Tween the hours of twelve and one
No change, no sudden wonder
Could undo what had been done

[Verse 17]
The watchman lay there dreaming
At forty-five degrees
He dreamed that the Titanic was sinking
Dropping to her knees

[Verse 18]
Wellington he was sleeping
His bed began to slide
His valiant heart was beating
He pushed the tables aside

[Verse 19]
Glass of shattered crystal
Lay scattered roundabout
He strapped on both his pistols
How long could he hold out?

[Verse 20]
His men and his companions
Were nowhere to be seen
In silence there he waited for
Time and space to intervene

[Verse 21]
The passageway was narrow
There was blackness in the air
He saw every kind of sorrow
Heard voices everywhere

[Verse 22]
Alarm-bells were ringing
To hold back the swelling tide
Friends and lovers clinging
To each other side by side

[Verse 23]
Mothers and their daughters
Descending down the stairs
Jumped into the icy waters
Love and pity sent their prayers

[Verse 24]
The rich man, Mister Astor
Kissed his darling wife
He had no way of knowing
Be the last trip of his life

[Verse 25]
Calvin, Blake, and Wilson
Gambled in the dark
Not one of them would ever live to
Tell the tale or disembark

[Verse 26]
Brother rose up 'gainst brother
In every circumstance
They fought and slaughtered each other
In a deadly dance

[Verse 27]
They lowered down the lifeboats
From the sinking wreck
There were traitors, there were turncoats
Broken backs and broken necks

[Verse 28]
The bishop left his cabin
To help all those in need
Turned his eyes up to the heavens
Said, "The poor are yours to feed"

[Verse 29]
Davey the brothel-keeper
Came out dismissed his girls
Saw the water getting deeper
Saw the changing of his world

[Verse 30]
Jim Backus smiled
He never learned to swim
Saw the little crippled child
And he gave his seat to him

[Verse 31]
He saw the starlight shining
Streaming from the East
Death was on the rampage
But his heart was now at peace

[Verse 32]
They battened down the hatches
But the hatches wouldn't hold
They drowned upon the staircase
Of brass and polished gold

[Verse 33]
Leo said to Cleo
I think I'm going mad
But he'd lost his mind already
Whatever mind he had

[Verse 34]
He tried to block the doorway
To save all those from harm
Blood from an open wound
Pouring down his arm

[Verse 35]
Petals fell from flowers
Tell all of them were gone
In the long and dreadful hours
The wizard's curse played on

[Verse 36]
The host was pouring brandy
He was going down slow
He stayed right to the end and he
Was the last to go

[Verse 37]
There were many, many others
Nameless here forever more
They never sailed the ocean
Or left their homes before

[Verse 38]
The watchman, he lay dreaming
The damage had been done
He dreamed the Titanic was sinking
And he tried to tell someone

[Verse 39]
The captain, barely breathing
Kneeling at the wheel
Above him and beneath him
Fifty thousand tons of steel

[Verse 40]
He looked over at his compass
And he gazed into its face
Needle pointing downward
He knew he lost the race

[Verse 41]
In the dark illumination
He remembered bygone years
He read the Book of Revelation
And he filled his cup with tears

[Verse 42]
When the Reaper's task had ended
Sixteen hundred had gone to rest
The good, the bad, the rich, the poor
The loveliest and the best

[Verse 43]
They waited at the landing
And they tried to understand
But there is no understanding
For the judgment of God's hand

[Verse 44]
The news came over the wires
And struck with deadly force
The love had lost its fires
All things had run their course

[Verse 45]
The watchman he lay dreaming
Of all the things that can be
He dreamed the Titanic was sinking
Into the deep blue sea