Lyr Req: Here Comes the Water (Chuck Pyle)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Comes the Water (Chuck Pyle)
From: GUEST,Bradman
Date: 04 Oct 13 - 12:14 AM

Chuck"s fine. Just heard him do this song on colorado Public Radio to honor the recent flood victims. Bet he'd never have guessed he'd see it twice.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Comes the Water (Chuck Pyle)
From: GUEST,BanjoRay
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 07:57 AM

I remember Chuck Pyle when he came to Mexborough (South Yorkshire, UK) in the seventies. A lovely singer, songwriter and guitar player and a good bloke. Said he lived in Steamboat Springs, Colorado at the time.
Hope he's well....
Ray

Subject: Lyr Add; HERE COMES THE WATER (Chuck Pyle)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 04:51 PM

HERE COMES THE WATER
As recorded by Chuck Pyle on "Step by Step" (1990)

[Spoken:] In white man's history, there'd never been a flood in the Big Thompson Canyon, but on a cool July evening in 1976, eleven inches of rain fell in less than an hour, and the water rose over thirty feet, raging down through the canyon destroying everything in its path. That night I chanced to sit near a couple of highway patrolmen drinking coffee in a truck stop, and they were discussing a fellow trooper who'd been killed in the flood. It seems Kenneth [sic] Purdy'd been told to seek higher ground, but instead, he turned his car and raced the water down the canyon, saving dozens of lives before it finally caught him. They said his last words were: "My car won't move. The mud is up to the windows. Here comes the water." This is to Kenneth Purdy, wherever he may be.

1. Just about sundown, the wind got strange,
Comin' off the prairie like the tide,
Spillin' down the Never Summer range,
Old man wind on a nighttime ride.

2. Fireballs on the telephone wires,
Heat lightnin' all over the park,
Somewhere in the distance there's a fire.
The rains begin; it gets dark.

3. Three feet of water run in the street,
Pickin' up speed, pickin' up power.
There where the two rivers meet,
They say it hit fifty miles an hour.

4. Nowhere for the water to go but down,
Down the Big Thompson it did roll.
Everyone in Estes Park town,
Listenin', heard it on the radio.

[Spoken:] Here comes the water.

5. Patrolman Purdy, number two-thirteen,
Racin' the canyon like a dash,
Warnin' everybody by the stream,
Turned in time to see the splash.

6. "10-33; my car won't move"
Then so everyone could hear:
"The mud is up to the windows."
Then with just a trace of fear,

[Spoken:] He said:

[Sung:] "Here comes the water."

[Spoken:] Two-thirteen, what's your 10-20? Over.
Two-thirteen, do you read? Do you copy? Over.
Clear all channels. We have a mayday condition.
Mayday, what's your location? Over.
Do you copy, mayday? Come back
Mayday, do you read? Come back.
Mayday, do you copy? Come back.
Mayday, come back.
Come back, mayday.

[Sung:] Mayday, come back.
Mayday, come back.
Mayday, mayday, come back.
Mayday, mayday, come back.

[Spoken:] Do you copy, mayday? Over.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Comes the Water (Chuck Pyle)
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Sep 13 - 04:21 PM

Deja vu on the flooding this week, no?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Here Comes the Water'
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 22 Jul 05 - 11:27 AM

Wonder if Guest ever tried to come back...

Subject: RE: Folk Song 'Here Comes the Water'
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 Jul 05 - 12:23 AM

As you travel westward from Loveland, Colorado, to Estes Park, Colorado, along US Highway 34, you pass through Big Thompson Canyon, the site of the flood on July 31, 1976. You are following the Big Thompson River upstream. It is a common approach to the eastern entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, which lies just beyond the town of Estes Park.

See maps at Google maps or TopoZone.

Two officers were killed in the flood: Michael O. Conley of the Estes Park Police Department and Sergeant Willis Hugh Purdy of the Colorado State Patrol. Both were heroic, but it was Purdy who radioed from his car shortly before he died.

Here is more information about the flood from The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Larimer County.

Subject: RE: Folk Song 'Here Comes the Water'
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 14 Jul 05 - 12:46 PM

Just about sundown the wind got strange
Coming off the praire like the tide
Warning everybody by the stream
Old man wind on a night time ride....

Fire balls on the telephone wire
Heat lightning all over the park
Somewhere in the distance there's a fire
The rain begins and it gets dark...

3 Feet of water runnin the street
Pickin up speed pickin up power....
There where the 3 rivers meet
They say it hit 60 miles an hour...

Nowhere for the water to go but down
Down the big Thompson it did roar...
Everyone in Esthers park town(?)
Listening, heard it on the radio

Here comes the water...

Patrolman 30, #213
Racing the canyon like a dash
Warning everybody by the stream
Turned in time to see the splash

"10-33 my car won't move"
Then so every one could hear
"The mud is up to the windows"
Then with just a trace of fear

"Here comes the water"

I think that's all of it...

Subject: RE: Folk Song 'Here Comes the Water'
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 14 Jul 05 - 12:11 PM

It very well could be... like I said this was from memeory from 10-15 years ago... and I'm not sure I ever saw the 'real' lyrics'... learned it from a tape of a radio show (real radio too.. not a web-cast...)

Subject: RE: Folk Song 'Here Comes the Water'
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Jul 05 - 08:38 PM

Clinton, was that "Estes Park", Colorado? I remember the flood there, and later saw some remaining evidence when visiting friends there.

Subject: RE: Folk Song 'Here Comes the Water'
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 13 Jul 05 - 07:42 PM

Nowhere for the water to go but down
Down the big Thompson it did roar...
Everyone in Esthers park town(?)
Listening, heard it on the radio

Here comes the water...

Patrolman 30, #213
Racing the canyon like a dash
Warning everybody by the stream
Turned in time to see the splash

"10-33 my car won't move"
Then so every one could hear
"The mud is up to the windows"
Then with just a trace of fear

"Here comes the water"

Man... I got gooseflesh just typing that last verse... that is, unfortunatly all I can come up with from memory... It has probably been 10-15 years since I even played this song, let alone heard anyone else perform it...

Subject: RE: Folk Song 'Here Comes the Water'
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 13 Jul 05 - 07:31 PM

It's on his CD "Step By Step"

Subject: RE: Folk Song 'Here Comes the Water'
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 13 Jul 05 - 07:28 PM

It's by Chuck Pyle

Just about sundown the wind got strange
Coming off the praire like the tide
Warning everybody by the stream
Old man wind on a night time ride....

Fire balls on the telephone wire
Heat lightning all over the park
Somewhere in the distance there's a fire
The rain begins and it gets dark...

Lemme think from here....

Subject: Folk Song 'Here Comes the Water'
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jul 05 - 07:18 PM

I once heard a ballad about a police officer or trooper who races through a town to warn them that a dam has burst. Eventually, his cruiser gets stuck, and he is trapped. Over the radio, we hear him say, with a touch of fear in his voice, "Here comes the water!"

I need the lyrics to this song, quickly, but all I can find are the lyrics to a song by Tool. I would appreciate your help.

Thank you.