Written by: Beck Hansen
Versions:
- When The Water Will Take Back The Land (version one) (2:49)
Available on Don't Get Bent Out Of Shape.
CreditsBeck Hansen: Guitar (Acoustic), Harmonica, Vocals - When The Water Will Take Back The Land (version two) (2:17)
Available on Don't Get Bent Out Of Shape and 1 other release.
CreditsBeck Hansen: Foot Stomp, Guitar (Acoustic), Harmonica, Vocals
Lyrics:
When The Water Will Take Back The Land (version one) [Version (a)]:
Like they said in the days of old
One day your faces will grow mold
For the judgment is close at hand
When the water will take back the land
From the tallest of the tall
To the pick-axe on the wall
When every bit of soul is canned
When the water will take back the land
There's a blow-dryer stinging your eyes
When the alcohol is starting to rise
There's a firehose on a marching band
When the water will take back the land
Well, the graveyard is starting to fry
And the moonshiners taking to the sky
There's a stone turn into sand
Where the water will take back the land
Like they said in the days of old
One day your faces will grow mold
For the judgment is close at hand
When the water will take back the land
From the tallest of the tall
To the pick-axe on the wall
When every bit of soul is canned
When the water will take back the land
There's a blow-dryer stinging your eyes
When the alcohol is starting to rise
There's a firehose on a marching band
When the water will take back the land
Well, the graveyard is starting to fry
And the moonshiners taking to the sky
There's a stone turn into sand
Where the water will take back the land
When The Water Will Take Back The Land (version two) [Version (b)]:
Like they said in the days of old
One day your faces will grow mold
For the judgment is close at hand
When the water will take back the land
From the tallest of the tall
To the pick-axe on the wall
When every bit of soul is canned
The water will take back the land
There's a blow-dryer stinging your eyes
Where the alcohol is starting to rise
And a firehose on a marching band
When the water will take back the land
Your table wheel blew into the smoke
Where gravity certainly awoke
There won't be no-one left you can stand
When the water will take back the land
The graveyard is starting to fry
And the moonshiners taking to the sky
There's a stone turn into sand
Where there water will take back the land
Like they said in the days of old
One day your faces will grow mold
For the judgment is close at hand
When the water will take back the land
From the tallest of the tall
To the pick-axe on the wall
When every bit of soul is canned
The water will take back the land
There's a blow-dryer stinging your eyes
Where the alcohol is starting to rise
And a firehose on a marching band
When the water will take back the land
Your table wheel blew into the smoke
Where gravity certainly awoke
There won't be no-one left you can stand
When the water will take back the land
The graveyard is starting to fry
And the moonshiners taking to the sky
There's a stone turn into sand
Where there water will take back the land
The Song:
There are two versions of "When The Water Will Take Back The Land," one on each Don't Get Bent Out Of Shape tape.
The longer version is rougher, as Beck plucks his loosely-tuned guitar wildly between verses. He adds lengthy noisy harmonica breaks as well. The recording quality is not as clean either, and overall my educated guess is this version came first, a younger version of the song. (We don't know which version of the Don't Get Bent tape came first; nor will we ever.)
The second version is more concise, even though it contains an extra verse (the "table / gravity" one). Beck stomps his foot a little bit, giving it much more punch. Listening to the two versions back to back, it feels like this is an evolution of the first to me.
The song itself was likely written quickly, but succeeds in that time-worn genre of armageddon folk music. Songs about the end of the world are hardly new, and I like this one a lot. Beck writes of the world going up in flood, on judgment day, with such portends as fiery graveyards, alcohol and moonshine vanishing, and a firehose on a marching band.
Young Beck had a lot of directions he could have gone, but it was his attention to detail in folk and blues songs that set him apart.
Also I should note, Don't Get Bent doesn't have song titles. We don't know for sure what Beck called this song. "When The Water Will Take Back The Land" works though, and is the chorus, so that seems likely.
There are two versions of "When The Water Will Take Back The Land," one on each Don't Get Bent Out Of Shape tape.
The longer version is rougher, as Beck plucks his loosely-tuned guitar wildly between verses. He adds lengthy noisy harmonica breaks as well. The recording quality is not as clean either, and overall my educated guess is this version came first, a younger version of the song. (We don't know which version of the Don't Get Bent tape came first; nor will we ever.)
The second version is more concise, even though it contains an extra verse (the "table / gravity" one). Beck stomps his foot a little bit, giving it much more punch. Listening to the two versions back to back, it feels like this is an evolution of the first to me.
The song itself was likely written quickly, but succeeds in that time-worn genre of armageddon folk music. Songs about the end of the world are hardly new, and I like this one a lot. Beck writes of the world going up in flood, on judgment day, with such portends as fiery graveyards, alcohol and moonshine vanishing, and a firehose on a marching band.
Young Beck had a lot of directions he could have gone, but it was his attention to detail in folk and blues songs that set him apart.
Also I should note, Don't Get Bent doesn't have song titles. We don't know for sure what Beck called this song. "When The Water Will Take Back The Land" works though, and is the chorus, so that seems likely.
Notes:
- A recording of version 1, in lesser quality, was also put on the 1992 demo tape that circulates. It's the same recording.