Carry Me Through the Flood

[Instrumental Intro – Worn piano chords roll through the dark, Hammond organ swells beneath a steady drum pulse, tremolo guitar drifts like distant lightning across a river valley, low bass notes gather weight as the storm approaches.] [Verse 1] Clouds stacked high above the valley ridge Black as coal and heavy as regret The river took the old oak bridge at dawn And it ain't finished with its hunger yet I stood watching from the broken bank With mud on my boots and fear in my chest Every road I knew had disappeared Every promise headed west [Verse 2] Rain came down in silver curtains Beating time on every rusted roof The church bell rang through sheets of water Like it was trying to summon proof The fields were gone beneath the current Fence posts drowned where cattle used to roam I held the photograph against my heart Of the only place I've ever called home [Chorus] If these waters rise above me If the night swallows every light I know When my strength gives out beneath me And I can't find solid ground below Be the hand that reaches farther Be the fire when the cold winds blow When the world becomes an ocean Carry me through the flood [Post-Chorus] Through the flood Through the flood When the river wants my name Carry me through the flood [Instrumental – Organ and piano answer each other in slow rolling phrases while electric guitar bends mournfully above a steady groove, the storm easing for a moment before gathering again.] [Verse 3] Morning broke in shades of copper The rain had left but the scars remained Windows shattered, roads forgotten Silence standing where the thunder reigned Yet I saw people pulling strangers From the wreckage with their weary hands Building hope from splintered timber Like wildflowers through cracked land [Pre-Chorus] What survives is never perfect What survives is never proud But there's a stubborn kind of mercy Living in a faithful crowd [Chorus] If these waters rise above me If the night swallows every light I know When my strength gives out beneath me And I can't find solid ground below Be the hand that reaches farther Be the fire when the cold winds blow When the world becomes an ocean Carry me through the flood [Interlude – Handclaps join the rhythm, organ swells higher, voices hum in layered harmony as the band builds toward a final release.] [Outro] The river still runs through the valley The scars still trace the earth like blood But I am standing where I once was falling Because somebody carried me through the flood [Outro Instrumental – Gospel-style vocal hums, warm organ chords, ringing guitar harmonics and fading piano notes drift into the distance like sunlight breaking through storm clouds.]