Bradford Loomis

34

Grief can seem overwhelming especially when it affects others on a large scale. But there is always hope.

In 1937 there was a massive flood of the Ohio river valley. Up until 2011, this was the worst flood in American history. Roughly 1 million people were left homeless.

I tell you my brother I've seen the waters rise, and right before my eyes I lost everything

For weeks on end the rain it steadily fell, and the river continued to swell till it broke its banks

The current raged and it left the only home, that I have ever known broken in its wake


When the waters came all the blood and sweat we gave were washed away from this place

The only thing left of us were echoes of the songs that we sang in his name


The toll was high and the casualties were great, and the promises we made were left behind

Mourn your loss for the friends you couldn't save

cause the bitterness'll be your grave if you dig too deep

Well the good Lord gives but good lord He takes away, there will be an end to our suffering

When the waters came all the blood and sweat we gave were washed away from this place

The only thing left of us were echoes of the songs that we sang in his name

© Brad Loomis 2010

31

This is a moody song about moving beyond the fears and dangers and tragedies that we will endure.

There are things in every persons life that they must Overcome.

We were born in a little home, right at the edge of the woods
Mama always said when she put us to bed, "Listen, honey please be good
Keep the doors locked tight, it's not safe at night"

We grew up with a fear of what lurked in the wilderness
When the sun went down on our tired little town the wolves would prey on us
I still hear the beat of their pounding feet

We learned to hide when the fires died and the shadows they grew long
Don't make a sound or you'll be found when the beasts come to sing their songs
I still hear their growls and their haunting howls

For all this suffering that we endured
I've spent so much of this life crippled by fear
When the ghosts that haunt the most, hold you in their grip
They've won, but we can overcome

And all the reasons why I was always too afraid to try
When love was on the line
For a heart that's been given life, I've been more dead than alive
Underneath the August Sky

For all this suffering that we endured
I've spent so much of this life crippled by fear
When the ghosts that haunt the most, hold you in their grip
They've won, but we can overcome

When the nights get long and the cold winds come, the summers come to an end
Keep the doors locked tight be watchful at night a wintering heart may hunt
But I still hear the sounds of their haunting howls

© 2011 Brad Loomis

97

This is an homage to the old slave spirituals of the early to mid 1800s. This song is from the perspective of Samuel Porter who had escaped from a plantation in Mississippi.

This is the story of a runaway slave named Samuel Porter.

The banks of the Jordan gonna be my road I'll follow the river till it takes me home
Washed in the water, pray the Lord my soul to keep

O my God I've been laid so low The devil won't seem to let me go
Washed in the water, pray the Lord my soul to keep

Gabriel's coming to take me home

I was born into the grave I've been set free and yet still a slave
Washed in the water, pray the Lord my soul to keep

I can hear the hounds that Satan sent Getting closer now must have caught my scent
Washed in the water, pray the Lord my soul to keep

Running for cover I heard it ring out Into the water the shot threw me down
Washed in the water, pray the Lord my soul to keep

Blood in the water, my time has run out I'll make it ashore, Lord, I know it somehow
Washed in the water, pray the Lord my soul to keep

The Good Lord's coming to take me home

© 2011 Brad Loomis