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'

Well, we can make it to the road in a homemade boat
'Cause that's the only thing we got left that'll float
It's already over all the wheat and 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 lost my bees
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 coming, 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 got to 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'


Lyrics submitted by toterkater, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Five Feet High And Rising Lyrics as written by Johnny R. Cash

Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust Ave, Peermusic Publishing, Cloud9, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Five Feet High and Rising song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

5 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think flood will not going to be a big catastrophe that is when you get ot it.

    It floods here in the Philippines almost everyday, yeah, almost, even in the middle of summer days.

    Well, we get used to it, and many manage to make a living out of it. That's life and we just have to get a long.

    But ofcourse if the flood will take away lives, it would be a totally different situation then.

    Nice song about a flood, I never knew that there is a song about it.

    bear_hug20on November 24, 2008   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version. Great version of a great song,
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.