The Flood

This song has been affectionately deemed "Swamp Thing" by Dave O. It is a rewrite of a song that I had written quite a few years ago while I was doing fieldwork in Ecuador. During the fieldwork, I stayed near a huge river and had visions of what it would be like if that river were to ever flood. The original version had lyrics that were much more "fire and brimstone" than this version, which was semi-completed when I first brought it to the band in April of 2010. The first time we played the song, it was just Dave B, Steve, and me.

Rehearsal, April 4, 2010

Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, Steve on bass

The original version featured the "chase scene" (again, a Dave O name) which was like a long, fast bridge that comes in about 2/3 of the way through the song. I was very happy that the guys wanted to keep this part and they helped make it into something quite captivating. Steve absolutely destroys the bass part in the chase scene time and time again. We played it as a full band just a couple of weeks after the three of us worked on it and we found a groove pretty quickly.

Rehearsal, April 18, 2010

Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass

Before Ben came around, The Flood generally clocked in around 5 minutes total length. We stretched out the chase scene to let all of us have a shot at a bit of guitar heriocs. It normally runs about 6.5 minutes now, but sometimes goes a bit longer when we play it live. The version of this song on Ghosts and Pride will likely melt a face or two clean off... and was captured on the first take. This version is from Ben's first rehearsal with the band. I think that everyone was a little extra cranked up with him there and playing.

Rehearsal, August 29, 2010

Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar

Here's a live version of the song, recorded at the Magic Bag. One of my absolute favorite parts of this song is the beginning of Dave B's solo, when Dave O does some sweet fill thing on the drums that links up with Dave B's guitar. I don't know what this is called (in drum terms), so I'll just call it awesome.

Live at the Magic Bag, March 11, 2011

Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar and vocals