Peter Gabriel - Here Comes The Flood

Peter Gabriel performs "Here Comes The Flood" on the 1979 Kate Bush Christmas special. The song is featured on his first solo album "Peter Gabriel", also known as "Car".

Lyrics:

When the night shows
the signals grow on radios
All the strange things
they come and go, as early warnings
Stranded starfish have no place to hide
still waiting for the swollen Easter tide
There's no point in direction we cannot
even choose a side.

I took the old track
the hollow shoulder, across the waters
On the tall cliffs
they were getting older, sons and daughters
The jaded underworld was riding high
Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky
and as the nail sunk in the cloud, the rain
was warm and soaked the crowd.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

When the flood calls
You have no home, you have no walls
In the thunder crash
You're a thousand minds, within a flash
Don't be afraid to cry at what you see
The actors gone, there's only you and me
And if we break before the dawn, they'll
use up what we used to be.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• peter
• gabriel
• here
• comes
• the
• flood
• kate
• bush
• xmas
• christmas

[adamtzsch]

I'm assuming that's Paddy Bush introducing this with Kate.

[Symphonyofflowers]

@adamtzsch Yes, that's Kate, Paddy and one of Kate's backing vocalists singing the intro.

[kywomanlml]

What a find... Thanks so much for posting. Amazing to see how dramatically Peter stripped down his music when he left Genesis. I had no idea this beloved song was on his first solo album.

[Symphonyofflowers]

@kywomanlml You're welcome.

[ghr444]

Absolutely the BEST version of this classic! Thanks for sharing it.

[Symphonyofflowers]

@ghr444 You're welcome.

[mikeartist]

My god!...this is a really powerful performance of this wonderful song!

Many thanks for posting this!!

[Mueller5032]

@johnnahodil What vibraphone? Gabriel used a Yamaha CS-80 and that thing is an analog synthesizer. A vibraphone is something completely different.

[wkbbrat]

sorry , bad spelling (CLOAKed)

[wkbbrat]

To skyingat: Too bad saturday passed, I love a holiday party :-)

To psalmsurfer1: This is the beauty of art, man. I havent lived with this song (like many of you die-hard fans), it's new to me (especially the lyrics). This time when I hear/read them, I think of the death /derth of creativity in the world (Drink up you dreamers, you're running dry)...here comes the flood of technology, fascist thinking (however claoked & subtle), litigation, etc. Bravo Mr. Gabriel (so prescient).

[psalmsurfer1]

@wkbbrat Lyrics are cryptic but have meaning..he's talking about a mental flood of the subconscious mind..psychic waves etc.

[skyingat]

I wish all the people whom commented on this were coming to my party on saturday. I dont think that Peter ever did use up what he used to be, thank goodness.

[GraveyarDisciple]

I don't like the intro i just want hear from the beginning :-(

[josm75]

3 ignorants dont like this video...

[ItIISITheIRabbit]

Somehow I'm comforted by the apparent fact that leisure suits didn't invade England until 1979.

[johnnahodil]

the only thing i dont like about this version is the vibraphone a simple baby grand woulda worked, like on sixteen golden hits

[AdmiralQuality]

O M F G Seriously?