Mixtape: Floods

As I am sure you are aware of (and probably sick of me saying) I was caught in the great Brisbane flood of 2011. In fact, I'm still waiting for my apartment to be livable again (hopefully a week). I thought it'd give me an excellent opportunity for a mix tape, but I'll be honest, most people don't write songs about floods. They write it about girls. And drugs. But luckily there are a few songs out there about floods, so I've put them together.

But before we begin, here's a boat that got stuck in a park near my house.

As always, you can view more flood photos on my Flickr.

Before I start, I will admit that some of these songs only mention floods in passing. But fuck it, it's my mixtape, I can put whatever I want on it. And also thanks to those few people who helped me out, especially Jane and her bored work googling. My lack of internet has made it difficult to find music that didn't involve me simply typing in "Flood" in Winamp.

1. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Who'll Stop the Rain
Because seriously,

as long as I can remember rain's been pouring down

, especially this summer. It's been like 8 days in a row with hardly any rain right now, and I'm starting to miss it.

2. La Dispute - Said the King to the River
As Clus said best, "pick any song from that album, they're all basically about floods." And due to my excitement about finally seeing them twice this week, of course I'll add it. And of course I've been listening to it all week. But here's why it got in:

"Rise!" Said the King to the River,
"Never let up! No, bring us a flood and bring it hard!"
"Freeze!" Said the Wind to the Water,
"Never give in! No, build us a bridge!
And build it strong and angry.
Let it stills the King's decree.
Oh, you must contemplate the current

3. Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks
What's a good mix tape without Zeppelin? Nothing.

When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay

And because when the levee did break I had no where to stay.

4. Dangers - Opposable
Included because I love the album and for this lyric that plays on American Pie:

Drunk drive my Chevy to the levee
Let the flood come and sweep me away

5. John Lee Hooker - Tupelo
A very old little folk/blues number. But a classic describing a flood in a town called Tupelo in 1936.

Did you read about the flood?
It happened long time ago, in a little country town, way back in Mississippi
It rained and it rained, it rained both night and day
The people got worried, they began to cry,
"Lord have mercy, where can we go now?"

6. Passion Pit - Swimming in the Floods
Why not a bit of hipster-electronica to dance to while flooding?

What can I do?
The river's overrun
We're swimming in a flood, you know?
I thought I felt your touch
But the water's rising up

7. The Saints - (I'm) Stranded
I really don't need to explain this one. Because so many of us were stranded on our own. Stranded far from home.

Bonus irony points for it being a Brisbane band.

8. Bleeding Through - There Was a Flood
Normally when metal sings about floods, it's about floods of blood. And you know what, Bleeding Through obviously stick to that formula. But you can still make parts of it about water flooding.

And breath-by-breath I'll rise to keep your flood away from me

9. The Bled - My Assassin
It's from an album called Found in the Flood. I had to find a way to put something from this album on the playlist. Luckily their most popular (I think it went on MTV) song had the following lyrics:

Maybe you could finally be the one who reaches in and saves me from the flood.
Collapse. This is our last chance.
There's no time for relapse, just listen for the flood.
If not us, can I just save you?

10. I Hate Myself - Caught In the Floods With the Captain of the Cheerleading Squad
With a band name and a song name like that, you'd imagine a crappy pop-punk band. But no, I Hate Myself is a classic mid 90s emo band from Florida. And if you don't know mid 90s emo, think of the Get Up Kids.

The lyrics are quite funny actually. It's about being caught in a tree with the captain of the cheerleading squad (obviously) and making small talk. And it's awkward high school small talk.

11. Trivium - Tread the Floods
Typical metal song about floods number 2, mainly about death. But I included it because it has floods in the title and it is from my favourite Trivium album, the Crusade.

Tread the floods so you can hope to seize,
Your own reality,
Before it escapes thee,
Watch yourself drown in disarray,
It's time to break away,
Or we all will die today.

12. The National - Runaway
This song is from their amazing 2010 album, High Violet. And like most National songs, it's got that moody kind of feel about it. Perfect for contemplating the floods.

what makes you think I enjoy being led to the flood?
we've got another thing comin' undone

You can download the whole mixtape here.