Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

Otis Redding's song, 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay' is one of the best songs ever written. I've probably heard it a hundred times but I haven't really reflected on the words. I find myself humming it when I'm enjoying myself with my family watching a sunrise, watching the storms roll across on a Sydney summer night, enjoying God's creation, delighting in life ...

I think I've totally misunderstood the song and confused its almost joyful tune for its miserable lyrics. But maybe that's the point.

Sitting in the morning sun
I'll be sitting when the evening comes
Watching the ships roll in
And I watch 'em roll away again

[Refrain]
Sitting on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay
Wasting time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the 'Frisco bay
'Cause I had nothin to live for
And look like nothing's gonna come my way

So I'm just...
[Refrain]

Look like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same

Sittin here resting my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone
It's two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home

The song was released as a single in 1968 and went quickly to number one in the R&B and Pop charts. Sadly Otis Redding died a year before it was released. Apparently it was the first posthumous single released in the US charts.

Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises. (Ecclesiastes 1:4-5)