Welcome to the Rock

Performance from the filmed version of the musical on AppleTV

Welcome to the Rock is the opening number of Come From Away. Everyone in the town of Gander is describing their perspective on the morning of September 11th 2001.

## Lyrics

On the northeast tip of North America,

on an island called Newfoundland, there's an airport.

It used to be one of the biggest airports in the world,

and next to it is a town called Gander.

Welcome to the rock if you come from away,

You'll probably understand about half of what we say.

They say no man's an island but an island makes a man,

Especially when one comes from one like Newfoundland.

Welcome to the Rock

That mornin' I'm in the classroom,

It's our first day back and school buses are on strike

so I'm coverin' for Annette who's running late.

Sorry Beulah, how's the kids?

Not exactly thrilled to be inside on such a gorgeous day,

So, I told them we'd only half day this mornin',

And they were quite pleased,

Until I told them we'd have the other half in the afternoon!

Welcome to the wildest weather that you've ever heard of.

Where every one is nicer but it's never nice above.

Welcome to the farthest place you'll get from Disneyland.

Fish and chips and shipwrecks, this is Newfoundland.

Welcome to the rock, an islander, I am an islander.

I'm an islander, I am an Islander.

I'm an islander, I am an islander.

I'm an islander, I am an islander.

That mornin' I'm in car. The kid's cross Airport Blvd.

To get to school, and that time of day people are in a little bit

of a rush to get to work and stuff,

so normally I sit there and run my radar.

And if they're speedin',

I'll stop them and write out a warning ticket.

I'll write S.T.F.D.

Slow the fuck down!

Welcome to the land where the winters try to kill us and we say,

"We will not be killed."

Welcome to the land where the waters try to drown us and we said,

"We will not be drowned."

Welcome to the land where we lost our loved ones and we said,

"We will still go on"

Welcome to the land where winds try to blow, and we said "No!"

That morning I drop my kids off at school and head to the SPCA

where I'm greeted by my "other kids"

all barking and meowing for breakfast and a belly rub.

Not that I'm complaining, I love them.

But by the time feeding is done

I gotta get back up to pick up my human kids,

so I take just one second for myself and I'm sitting in my car.

I'm in the library.

I'm in the staff room.

And I turned on the radio.

You are here, at the start of a moment,

On the edge of the world.

Where the river meets the sea.

Here, at the edge of the Atlantic,

On an island in between there and here.

I'm noting my radar when Bonnie comes by.

She pulls up and she is waving at me like mad,

so I rolled down my window and she says:

"Oz, turn on the radio."

"Slow it down Bonn-"

"Jesus H Oz, turn on your radio."

Where our stories start:

It's my first day at the station.

When(?) in the night

I'm getting coffee for the picket line.

Where we know by heart.

It's five minutes till my smoke break.

Every single flight.

I'm off to work at the airport.

Welcome to the fog, welcome to the trees,

to the ocean and the sky, and whatever's in between.

To the one's who have left, you are never truly gone.

Our candle's in the window and our Kettle's always on.

When the sun is coming up, and the world has come ashore,

If you're hoping for a harbor than you'll find an open door.

In the winter, from the water,

Through whatever's in the way,

To the ones who have come from away,

Welcome to the rock!