Post by Deleted on May 19, 2011 13:00:24 GMT -5
<Note -- I've edited the tune to incorporate a couple of changes.>
This one is a bit different for me. I borrowed a phrase ("makeshift shores of Highway 102") from a story in the Southeast Missourian, the paper in Cape Girardeau. I wanted to write a song about the flood, but I also (gulp) wanted to make it quasi-commercial, so I followed the boring route of making sure the key line comes up in the first verse, gets repeated in the chorus, repeated again in the verses, etc. It's that Nashville formula that makes every song sound the same. At least I'm not writing about some woman keying her boyfriend/husband's car because he cheated on her....
This is a rough draft and I'm sure the song will go through some changes. Still not sure about using the word "recede" in a folk or country tune. The rhyme scheme in the first verse is different from the other verses; not sure how I missed that, but I didn't feel like going back and re-doing it. Any thoughts are welcome and, as always, it is copyright 2011 by David Hanners....
THE GREAT FLOOD OF 2011
I stood upon the makeshift shores of Highway 102
And looked at what a river could do
I’m tempted to think these fields will never be the same
But they will ‘cause they’ve got my family name
chorus:
You can dynamite the levees
Let this river roll untamed
But when the waters recede
Those fields still have my family name
My name is Bob Timmons and I’ve lived here all my life
Like grandpa and my daddy before me
Grandpa survived the flood of 1937
Dad survived the one in ‘73
I wish both of them were standing with me now
Teach me what they learned about stayin’
Maybe all I need to know is I’ll wake up tomorrow
And these fields will still have my family name
(chorus)
bridge:
They said to save Cairo, the levees had to go
I’m just a poor Missouri farmer, so what do I know?
Roofs and barns and diesel tanks float to New Orleans
In a river three miles wide
Each one from somebody's family farm
I just hope nobody's died
And my name is Bobby Timmons, I will live here all my life
I plant soybeans, corn and some grain
No other work I know how to do
In these fields that have my family name
(chorus and end)
This one is a bit different for me. I borrowed a phrase ("makeshift shores of Highway 102") from a story in the Southeast Missourian, the paper in Cape Girardeau. I wanted to write a song about the flood, but I also (gulp) wanted to make it quasi-commercial, so I followed the boring route of making sure the key line comes up in the first verse, gets repeated in the chorus, repeated again in the verses, etc. It's that Nashville formula that makes every song sound the same. At least I'm not writing about some woman keying her boyfriend/husband's car because he cheated on her....
This is a rough draft and I'm sure the song will go through some changes. Still not sure about using the word "recede" in a folk or country tune. The rhyme scheme in the first verse is different from the other verses; not sure how I missed that, but I didn't feel like going back and re-doing it. Any thoughts are welcome and, as always, it is copyright 2011 by David Hanners....
THE GREAT FLOOD OF 2011
I stood upon the makeshift shores of Highway 102
And looked at what a river could do
I’m tempted to think these fields will never be the same
But they will ‘cause they’ve got my family name
chorus:
You can dynamite the levees
Let this river roll untamed
But when the waters recede
Those fields still have my family name
My name is Bob Timmons and I’ve lived here all my life
Like grandpa and my daddy before me
Grandpa survived the flood of 1937
Dad survived the one in ‘73
I wish both of them were standing with me now
Teach me what they learned about stayin’
Maybe all I need to know is I’ll wake up tomorrow
And these fields will still have my family name
(chorus)
bridge:
They said to save Cairo, the levees had to go
I’m just a poor Missouri farmer, so what do I know?
Roofs and barns and diesel tanks float to New Orleans
In a river three miles wide
Each one from somebody's family farm
I just hope nobody's died
And my name is Bobby Timmons, I will live here all my life
I plant soybeans, corn and some grain
No other work I know how to do
In these fields that have my family name
(chorus and end)
