Wind and Water

My dad was a meteorologist who spent a lot of time forecasting typhoons in the Western Pacific, which is how we ended up spending two tours of duty on Guam. We rode out a couple of typhoons there, the worst being Typhoon Karen, which passed directly over the island. We were lucky. We lived in concrete block housing on top of Nimitz Hill which was built to withstand terrible storms, as long as you boarded up your windows. And when the storms approached, the seamen would drive around with their cache of plywood and make sure that happened, because the Navy was terribly well organized in that regard.

Some of the higher ranking officers lived in much prettier houses made of wood. They had to head for shelter, because their houses wouldn't stand through the wind.

But we were high on the hill, far away from the storm surge, and where water would run down and away from us.

Some people are not so lucky.

And today I have a song, which is not so much a filk song, but definitely a song that I needed to write today.

(Chorus)
Am
Run, run, run,
          G
‘Fore the wind and water catch you.
         F/G
They are coming now to snatch you
            C/G         Em
And they’ve only just begun.
Am
Run, run, run,
         G
Don’t be standing like a statue.
          F/G
If you’re moving with dispatch you
         E7               Am
Might be safe when day is done.


G                        F/G
Storm wind rising on the water.
C/G                          G
Dark clouds blotting out the sun.
G                            F/G
Grab your wives and sons and daughters.
C/G                  G
Time for families to run.
G                                 F/G
And there’s no high ground in the county
        C/G                     G
And the waves are rising on the sea.
G                               F/G
You’re on the road with all the townies,
C/G                           E7
Looking for a better place to flee.

Folks on high ground board their windows,
Hoping to ride out the storm.
And if they know which way the wind blows,
They may come through it safe and warm.
When straw and wood are blown asunder,
A house of brick and stone may stand.
They hide from wind and rain and thunder
On a less salty piece of land.

(Bridge)
G                 Am
Wind may lose the battle,
C/G                       G
But water always wins the war,
G                    Am
‘Cause water is much stronger
C/G                       E7
Than the wind that came before.


The water’s rising up the mountain
From valleys where the rivers overflow.
Granny’s in her chair recounting
Stories of great floods from long ago.
And you can’t go up and you can’t go down,
So you hide upon the roof in pouring rain.
And you pray the storm will pass before you drown
As you watch the water rising up again.

(Chorus twice)