[Silence]
[Instrumental, Electric Slide Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Drums, Piano, Organ, Synth]
[Intro]
[Instrumental Intro: Gentle Acoustic Guitar, Rolling Bass, Brushes on Drums, Wurlitzer Piano, Distant Hammond Organ]
[Spoken Vocal]
Oh, boy…
When the water rises…
(Bring on surprises)
You never know
(who might see go.)
[Verse 1]
Water running down the road
Carrying a heavy load
River rising
Current strong
You don’t know
What could go wrong
Someone calls
Someone cries
Someone running
Down the side
Don’t just watch
Don’t just stare
If there’s something
You can spare
[Instrumental, Slide Guitar Solo, Harmonica]
[Pre-Chorus]
Throw!
(Throw!)
The line!
(The line!)
[Refrain]
Oh, boy!
(Life saver)
Savior
(Ring buoy)
It’s an obscene
(Scene)
Please, let’s save a life
(Less strife)
Rife with life
[Chorus]
A little rope
(A little hope)
A simple ring
(Life saving)
[Verse 2]
My father knew
The danger well
Water doesn’t always tell
(If it’s bringin’ on hell)
Oh… (Well, well, well)
If someone comes
Knocking hard
We would have
A place to start
(Start a heart)
[Instrumental]
[Acoustic Guitar Solo: Fingerpicked Folk-Blues With Slide Electric Guitar, Upright Bass and Soft Hammond Organ]
[Bridge]
Give someone
A little heart
(That’s a start!)
Have a heart
[Rap Vocal Break]
Flood comes fast
Water moves
You don’t get
To choose
(Win or lose)
Get back
(Back, back, back)
Reach out
(Use hope)
Point of view
(Scope)
Throw the buoy
(Boy!)
Throw the buoy
(Boy!)
Give the person
Something to hold
Don’t become
Another victim
Trying to make
A rescue mission
Call for help
Keep your head
Keep the line
Keep the time
[Breakdown]
[Music Drops to Acoustic Guitar, Bass and Soft Piano]
Oh, boy…
Life saver…
Savior…
Ring buoy…
[Whispered]
Please…
Let’s save a life.
[Final Refrain]
Oh, boy!
(Buoyancy)
Savior
(Ring buoy)
See!
It’s an obscene
(Scene)
Please, let’s save a life
(Less strife)
Rife life
[Final Chorus]
Ring buoy!
(Ring buoy!)
Life saver
(Savior!)
Throw it out
(Reach it out)
Give hope
(Help them cope)
Ring buoy!
(Ring buoy!)
When the water rises high
Hold on!
(Hold on!)
Don’t let go
(Stay alive)
[Outro]
[Instrumental Outro: Acoustic Guitar, Warm Bass, Soft Drums, Hammond Organ; Water-like Synth Texture Slowly Fades]
Oh, boy…
Ring buoy…
Life saver…
Savior…
[Spoken, fading]
Be ready.
You never know
when someone will come knocking.
(Knockin’ on heaven’s door)
Once more…
(You never know)
when someone will come knocking.
(… on your door)
and there’s more
(More in store)
Oh, way much more
About the Song
When I was about six or eight years old, we experienced high water and flooding conditions in front of our house on Riverview Road. A young girl had been swept into the river about a half-mile upstream. We didn’t know what had happened at first.
Someone came running down the road, pounding on our door, but kept going—running downstream alongside the road and river. Within moments, people were coming out of their houses. There was a canoe store across the river, and several men launched into the raging water, paddling out to the girl and bringing her to the bank about a quarter-mile downstream.
Soon the ambulances arrived. My parents kept me from going down to see what was happening. I later learned that she had drowned, right there in front of our house.
My father was the executive director of the YMCA. He was a nationally ranked swimmer, swim-team coach, and aquatic director specializing in water safety. After that day—and for the rest of my childhood—there was always a life buoy with plenty of rope attached to the wall next to our door.
It was there for a simple reason: if someone ever came knocking again, we might be able to save a life.
That memory has stayed with me. People who experience violent rain and flooding can be left with lasting trauma. As extreme rainfall becomes more extreme, more people will experience events that can change the way they see water, storms, and the places they call home.
How do you prepare for something like that? How do you cope when the rain becomes something you fear?
Obscene scene. Know what I mean?
From the album “Demand Destruction“