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FIVE FEET HIGH AND RISING - JOHNNY CASH
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About the song:
"Five Feet High and Rising" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash.
The song was recorded by Cash on March 12, 1959] for his third Columbia album and released as a single on July 6, 1959.
The song is a first person account of the 1937 flood that Cash, then aged four years and 11 months, endured with his family. They had to leave their home and flee.
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Audio link:
Hear the song by clicking on:
Video link, early Johnny Cash performance with his telling the background to the song:
I like the comment by one listener/viewer:
How many views momma? She said “ One million views and counting” How many views Poppa?
(Now over 1.5m views).
See Johnny Cash sing and play the song with Biff on the Muppet Show:
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Lyrics:
How high's the water, Mama?
Two feet high and risin'
How high's the water, Papa?
She said it's two feet high and risin'
We can make it to the road in a homemade boat
That's the only thing we got left that'll float
It's already over all the wheat and the oats
Two feet high and risin'
How high's the water, Mama?
Three feet high and risin'
How high's the water, Papa?
She said it's three feet high and risin'
Well, the hives are gone
I've lost my bees
The chickens are sleepin'
In the willow trees
Cow's in water up past her knees
Three feet high and risin'
How high's the water, Mama?
Four feet high and risin'
How high's the water, Papa?
She said it's Four feet high and risin'
Hey, come look through the window pane
The bus is comin', gonna take us to the train
Looks like we'll be blessed with a little more rain
Four feet high and risin'
How high's the water, Mama?
Five feet high and risin'
How high's the water, Papa?
She said it's five feet high and risin'
Well, the rails are washed out north of town
We gotta head for higher ground
We can't come back till the water goes down
Five feet high and risin'
Well, it's five feet high and risin'
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About the flood:
The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, 385 people died, one million people were left homeless and property losses reached $500 million ($10.2 billion when adjusted for inflation as of September 2022). Federal and state resources were strained to aid recovery as the disaster occurred during the depths of the Great Depression and a few years after the beginning of the Dust Bowl.
The flood came about as the result of several inches of snow followed by warm weather and heavy rainfall over a matter of a few days.
Flood levels:
January 23–24: Martial law was declared in Evansville, Indiana, where the water level was at 54 feet (16 m).
January 26: River gauge levels reached 80 feet (24 m) in Cincinnati, the highest level in the city's history.
January 27: River gauge reached 57 feet (17 m) in the Louisville area, setting a new record. Seventy percent of the city was under water at that time.
February 2: River gauge surpassed 60 feet (18 m) in Paducah, Kentucky.
February 5: Water levels fell below the flood stage for the first time in nearly three weeks in several regions.
Ruth Martin remembers how bad things were, “I was 15 and we lived on the hillside so we had a great view of the whole city. The thing I remember very most is darkness, -- we’d look out over the city and you’d just see darkness.” Power was out. “We would go out every night and see how far up the water had come and talk to the National Guard. And then at the library, they were giving out free inoculations to keep from getting disease.”
Gallery:
Downtown Huntington, West Virginia, during the Great Flood of 1937
Members of a refugee family left homeless by the flood in Shawneetown, Illinois
An upturned farmhouse in Posey County, Indiana
Louisvile Main Street
Tent city set up in the aftermath of the 1937 flood along Algonquin Parkway for the storm victims.
“Refugee camps” and emergency stations were set up in the upper floors of many factories and downtown buildings, such as this one in a City Hall.
Many people’s only option was to climb to the attic or even roof to await rescue. There were no cell phones or 911 to notify anyone of your location.
This man built a makeshift boat made from four metal washtubs and some wooden slats.
During the Great Ohio River Flood of 1937, men and women in Louisville, Kentucky, line up seeking food and clothing from a relief station, in front of a billboard proclaiming, "World's Highest Standard of Living."
African Americans in Louisville, Kentucky, seek food and clothing from a relief station in the aftermath of flooding that devastated the city in 1937. The billboard in Margaret Bourke-White's famous "American Way" photograph is visible in the background.
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