Caribbean Wind (Live Nov. 12, 1980)

She was the rose of Sharon from paradise lost From the city of seven hills near the place of the cross I was playing a show in Miami in the theater of divine comedy Told about Jesus, told about the rain She told me about the jungle where her brothers were slain By a man who had been dying and disappeared so mysteriously Verse 2 Was she a child or an angel Did we go too far Were we sniper bait Did we follow a star To a hole in the wall wall to where the long arm of the law can not reach Could I been used and played as a pawn It certainly was possible as the gay night wore on Where men bathed in perfume and practiced the hopes of free speech Verse 3 And them Caribbean winds still blow from Nassau to Mexico Fanning the flames in 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 Verse 4 She looked into my soul through the clothes that I wore She said, “We got a mutual friend over by the door And you know he’s got our best interest in mind” He was well connected but her heart was a snare And she had left him to die in there There were payments due and he was a little behind Verse 5 The cry of the peacock, flies buzz my head Ceiling fan broken, there’s a heat in my bed Street band playing “Nearer My God to Thee” We met at the steeple 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 let us just agree to agree” Verse 6 And them Caribbean winds still blow from Nassau to Mexico Fanning the flames in 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 Verse 7 Atlantic City by the cold grey sea I hear a voice crying, “Daddy,” I always think it’s for me But it’s only the silence in the buttermilk hills that call Every new messenger brings evil report ’Bout armies on the march and time that is short And famines and earthquakes and hatred written upon walls Verse 8 Would I have married her I don’t know, I suppose She had bells in her braids and they hung to her toes But I kept hearing my name and had to be moving on I saw screws break loose, saw the devil pound tin I saw a house in the country being torn from within I heard my ancestors calling from the land far beyond Verse 9 And them Caribbean winds still blow from Nassau to Mexico Fanning the flames in 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