After the Flood

Dirk Powell is our film’s Song Composer, responsible for finding musicians and tunes that fit, as well as contributing some of his own music. I’ve always been extremely moved by previous recordings of his song WATERBOUND, then heard this new recording from across the Atlantic… which he performed with friends at the Glascow Royal Concert Hall. Someone videotaped the event and posted on YouTube. Wow!

In Tennessee, “waterbound” apparently means “flooded.” The tone and lyrics are seeped with a special kind of agony, the kind that a flood or a shipwreck can cause. Not just loss. But the cleansweep loss that made the story of Noah and the flood so devastating, and the survivor’s guilt so poignant. Lyrics below.

WATERBOUND

I went out late one night,
The moon and stars were shining bright
A storm come up and the trees come down,
I tell you boys I was waterbound

Waterbound on a stranger’s shore
River rising to my door
carried my home to the field below
I’m water bound, nowhere to go.

Carved my name on an old barn wall
Or no-one would know I was there at all
Stable’s dry on a winter’s night
If you turn your head you can see the light.

Black cat crawling on an old box car
A rusty door and a falling star
Aint got no dime in my nation sack
I’m waterbound and I can’t get back

It’s I’m going and I won’t be back
If you don’t believe me count my tracks
The river’s long and the river’s wide
I’ll meet you boys on the other side

So say my name and don’t forget
The water still aint got me yet
Ain’t nothing but I’m bound to roam
I’m waterbound and I can’t get home