Flood songs

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: Jack Campin
Date: 19 Nov 25 - 02:40 PM

Previous thread:

songs about floods

I posted a link to an immensely long one from the 1680s that said England's flood disaster was all due to sinfulness.

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 17 Nov 25 - 07:21 AM

Wasn't that a Mighty Storm (aka Galveston Flood) regarding the hurricane of 1900 that devastated the city.
Covered by many including Tom Rush, The Country Gentlemen and Tony Rice.

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 17 Nov 25 - 07:06 AM

When the Levee Breaks by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie was recorded in 1929 and like Charley Patton's High Water Everywhere was about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: The Sandman
Date: 17 Nov 25 - 06:56 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gXShOJVwaM Bessie Smith Back Water Blues

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: GerryM
Date: 17 Nov 25 - 06:56 AM

The Molasses flood in Boston is commemorated in the song Molasses, aka Molasses Rum, which song has a very short thread here on Mudcat.

In the morning it was 42 …                        (Oh Molasses)
Molasses vat split clean in two …                (Oh Molasses Rum)
Two million gallons covered the bay, 21 drowned in the flood that day
       Singin’ Oh Molasses, oh molasses rum

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 17 Nov 25 - 06:29 AM

High Water Everywhere Parts 1&2- Charley Patton

Down in the Flood- Bob Dylan

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: G-Force
Date: 17 Nov 25 - 04:08 AM

'Louisiana 1927' by Randy Newman.

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: GerryM
Date: 16 Nov 25 - 07:42 PM

When Hurricane Katrina came through, the band, Truckstop Honeymoon, learned the fate of their neighborhood from seeing it featured, comletely flooded out, on the front page of the New York Times. Well, they got a song out of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqlm4VPj4hM

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: GerryM
Date: 16 Nov 25 - 07:31 PM

Yarri of Wiradjuri, https://margaretwalters.bandcamp.com/album/yarri-of-wiradjuri is a song and verse cycle written by John Warner about the great flood in Gundagai in 1852 and the efforts of the Aborigines of the region to save European lives.

Music and lyrics: John Warner
Narration: John Derum
Singers & Musicians: The Roaring Forties (Don Brian, Robin Connaughton, Tom Hanson, Jennifer Lees, Margaret Walters, John Warner), Matthew Doyle, Tony Pyrzakowski, Christine Wheeler

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: GerryM
Date: 16 Nov 25 - 07:23 PM

Lyrics to Hey Rain, from Mainly Norfolk site, https://mainlynorfolk.info/danny.spooner/songs/heyrain.html

Chorus (after each verse):
Hey rain,
rain coming down,
On the cane,
On the roofs of the town.

Rain in my beer and rain in my face
Old Innisfail is a bloody wet place,
Hey rain, hey rain.

Rain in my beer and rain in my grub
And they’ve just fitted anchors to the Gurradunga pub,
Hey rain, hey rain.

I’ve got a Johnson River crocodile livin’ in my ’fridge
And there’s a bloody great tree down on the Jubilee Bridge,
Hey rain, hey rain.

The monsoon sky’s so dark and big,
There’s an old flying fox in a Moreton Bay Fig,
Hey rain, hey rain.

And a bloke from the west nigh died of fright
The river rose thirty five feet last night,
Hey rain, hey rain.

It’s the worst wet season we’ve ever had,
I’d swim down to Tully but it’s just as bloody bad,
Hey rain, hey rain.

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: GerryM
Date: 16 Nov 25 - 07:19 PM

Hey, Rain! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ztV_SvOA20

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: Pappy Fiddle
Date: 16 Nov 25 - 06:39 PM

FIVE FEET HIGH AND RISING
(Johnny Cash)

How high is the water mama two feet high and risin'
How high is the water papa she said it's two feet high and risin'
But we can make it to the road in a homemade boat
Cause that's the only thing we got left that'll float
It's already over all the wheat and oats two feet high and risin'

How high is the water mama three feet high and risin'
How high is the water papa she said it's three feet high and risin'
Well the hives are gone I lost my bees
Chickens are sleepin' in the willow trees
Cows in water up past their knees three feet high and risin'

How high is the water mama four feet high and risin'
How high is the water papa she said it's four feet high and risin'
Hey come look through the window pane
The bus is comin' gonna take us to the train
Looks like we'll be blessed with a little more rain four feet high and risin'

How high is the water mama five feet high and risin'
How high is the water papa she said it's five feet high and risin'
Well the rails are washed out north of town we gotta head for higher ground
We can't come back till the water goes down five feet high and risin'
Well it's five feet high and risin'

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: Helen
Date: 16 Nov 25 - 05:58 PM

This is music-related and flood-related:

I lived in Maitland NSW, and my Mother was evacuated about 3 months before I was born because of the devastating flood at that time.

Floods are definitely part of the history of that place.

The information below relates to The Maitland and Morpeth String Quartet - animated movie based in the area and the story incorporates a reference to a flood.

The Maitland and Morpeth String Quartet (1989)(1989)

Synopsis

Mr and Mrs Flynn who live in Maitland, a New South Wales country town, form a musical quartet with Leo, the local greengrocer, and Consuela, a young female bank teller. When Consuela marries and moves interstate, Leo is heartbroken and the trio, dissatisfied with their reduced performance, searches for a replacement. Leo discovers that one of his customers, Dolores Costello, plays the cello. She refuses an invitation to join the group until after he rescues her from the flood which threatens the district. When the floodwaters subside, the quartet resumes their public performances which have a transformative effect on the lives of the townsfolk.

Subject: RE: Flood songs
From: Robert B. Waltz
Date: 16 Nov 25 - 05:51 PM

Does Noah's flood count? If so, you have a lot to choose from....

I'm going to assume you don't want those. I took the simple expedient of searching the Traditional Ballad Index for songs with the keyword "flood," then tried to take out the Noah songs, and got this list (the ones marked * seem to be historical):

* The Alabama Flood
Annan Water
* Backwater Blues
* The Brushy Mountain Freshet
* Cairo (II)
* The D & H Canal
* The Galveston Storm
* The Great American Flood Disaster
* The Johnstown Flood (I) [Laws G14]
* The Johnstown Flood (II)
* Mighty Mississippi
* Mississippi Heavy Water Blues
* Shawneetown Flood
Waterbound

A lot of those are about the Mississippi Flood, but we also have Johnstown, and Galveston, and some less-well-known ones.

Subject: Flood songs
From: GUEST,Jim Yates
Date: 16 Nov 25 - 03:28 PM

I am searching for flood songs, especially those that mention a river.

I live in Port Hope, Ontario. Port Hope is a small town (population 16700) at about the halfway point on the north shore of Lake Ontario. It is photogenic enough that several movies have been shot here, the latest being the two IT movies.
The Ganaraska River (The Ganny) bisects the town and on Friday, March 21, 1980, an ice jam caused The Ganny to flood the downtown of Port Hope. This flood was so severe that several buildings on the banks of the river, including the Sears store and the Firehall museum were completely destroyed. A number of cars were washed out into Lake Ontario and the town was left in a shambles.
Every year since that time, there is a river race to commemorate The Great Port Hope Flood called Float Your Fanny Down The Ganny.
A local doctor, Paul Caldwell, wrote a song about the flood called Fanny In The Ganny to the tune of Turkey In The Straw.

Fanny In The Ganny       Paul Caldwell

Well I was [C] sittin' all alone on a rainy day, Dreamin' 'bout the summer, not so [G7] far away,
I was [C] thumbin' through a copy of the Sears catalog They had a summer sale on - I [G7] said, "Good [C] God!"
Well they had [C] beach balls, tennis balls, sun hats too, Everything for summer I was [G7] feelin' blue
Even [C] though it was a-pourin' I rushed down to Sears Summer was a-ringin' to my [G7] rain drenched [C] ears.

Fanny in the Ganny, [F] Fanny in the Ganny, Grab a [C] sponge and a bucket
And thank your good [G7] luck it wasn't [C] you...it wasn't [F] you,
Grab a [C] sponge and a bucket and thank your good [G7] luck
Put your [C] fanny in the Ganny and [G7] squawk like a [C] duck

Well when I got downtown I was standing in the store when the Ganaraska River came a[G7]flowin' through the door
So I [C] said to the man as I climbed upon a chair "Is the Ganaraska River sup[G7]posed to be [C]there?"
Well, he looked at me and he said with a frown, "There's Ganaraska River in this [G7] whole darn town."
I got [C] water in my knickers, I got water down my neck And the Ganaraska River hasn't [G7] crested [C] yet.

So I said to the guy, "Is the summer sale on? The weatherman said it won't be [G7] cloudy for long.
So he [C] rolled up his trousers, he didn't take much dope, He said, "Listen Buddy, can you [G7] do the breast [C] stroke?"
Then he picked up a bucket and he started to bale He said, "We're gonna have ourselves a [G7] liquidation sale.
[C] Water wings, sump pumps, nose plugs too. The prices are falling 'cause the [G7] building is [C] too."

Water's comin' in the window, water's comin' in the door. The guy was treadin' water in the [G7] middle of the floor,
So I [C] bought a set of water wings and inflated them fast because the Ganaraska River was [G7] climbing up my [C] fanny.
And I thought to myself as the water reached my knees The Port Hope Council's always [G7] tryin' to please,
I [C] don't suppose the mayor made the river full to make the Port Hope boat people [G7] feel at [C] home.

Well I hopped a floating sofa 'cause I couldn't take a bus It didn't cost any money, so I [G7] didn't make a fuss
And my [C] downtown tour was kinda short and kinda sweet Into the big open [G7] window to the [C] street.
I was munchin'on a do-nut when I crashed through a wall The siren was a wailin'on that [G7] old fire hall
And the [C] people at the hotel were the calmest ones in town 'cause all of them are used to drinking [G7] beer watered [C] down.