My Ship Is Coming In (Tomorrow)
1966 · Mica 503 · Chicago, Illinois
- Artist
- The Pace Setters
- Title
- My Ship Is Coming In (Tomorrow)
- Release
- My Ship Is Coming In (Tomorrow) / Victim of Loneliness
- Year
- 1966
- Label
- Mica # 503
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Songwriter
- J. Brackenridge, Al Benson
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul
- Primary theme
- US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs
Annotation
The song "My Ship Is Coming In Tomorrow" (Mica Records # 503) referred to the Vietnam War. This is a fairly unknown track, from the obscure (northern) Chicago R&B / doo-wop group The Pace Setters, which included the brothers Joe Brackenridge (lead vocals) and Henry Brackenridge (baritone vocals), in addition to Stacy Steele Jr. (tenor vocals), Willie C. Robinson (tenor vocals), and Charles Johnson (bass vocals). All of them actually featured in an earlier Chicago group called the Von Gayles. After some other members left, they created a new group in 1964, the Cascades, and then changed their name to The Pace Setters in 1966. (1) The Pace Setters linked up with the Chicago DJ Al Benson, founder of Mica Records, and released this Vietnam track about soldiers returning home, which had a similar theme to two other northern Chicago soul songs, "He'll Be Back", and the follow-up "I'm Glad I Waited" by the The Players. A coincidence? Well, The Pace Setters' lead vocalist Joe Brackenridge actually joined up with The Players 1966-67. The narrator recalls going across the sea to a foreign land, "fighting to make it free". But now the soldier is returning home, and although he is "so glad that I made it", he notes "the boys now in Vietnam", and that people in the US will "remember your names".
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Oh no, no more / I've been across the ocean / I've been across the sea / I've been away to a foreign land fighting to make it free / But now my ship is coming home tomorrow / Tell me you'll be there when my boat arrives girl / To the boys now in Vietnam / America will always remember your names / I saw men dying, I saw men crying... / I'm so glad I made it / My ship is coming home tomorrow / I'm coming home now / I've been gone a long time now
Notes
Mica Records 503 A, Mica Records, Inc., 1823 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago 60616; "My Ship Is Coming In (Tomorrow)" (J. Brackenridge – Al Benson), Vi Jim Pub., Co., 2:33. Pink and cream label with musical notes. [From the record sleeve and labels]
About the artist
Formed Chicago, Illinois, USA
Themes
In collections
Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]