1st Place | July/August 2009 Lyric Contest
Written by Brandon Church
St. Joseph, Missouri

“When The Levee Breaks”
There are ghosts in this old timber
They whisper to me in the air
Asking me if I remember
Making sure that I still care

I take the last drink from this bottle
But I don’t dare throw it down
As I walk on up the holler
I know I’m on sacred ground

From the bluff I see the river
Creeping over those long dams
Her great force gives me a shiver
As she tumbles manmade plans

Set the clocks all back to zero
She’ll get what she came to take
There won’t be no second chances
It’s over when the levee breaks

Not a thing that’s supposed to be here
Ever shed a flake of rust
Now we face what we’ve forgotten
Ash to ash and dust to dust

As she sweeps across the highway
Taking all that man has built
She leaves the Pines and the White Oaks
And covers up the rest with silt

As I watch it all flood over
And erase manmade mistakes
I can hear the timber whisper
It’s over when the levee breaks

Set the clocks all back to zero
She’ll get what she came to take
There won’t be no second chances
It’s over when the levee breaks