LOST IN THE FLOOD [Album version]

The ragamuffin gunner is returnin' home like a hungry runaway
He walks through town all alone
"He must be from the fort," he hears the high school girls say
This countryside's burnin' with wolfmen fairies dressed in drag for homicide
They hit and run, plead sanctuary, 'neath the holy stone they hide
They're breakin' beams and crosses with a spastic's reelin' perfection
Nuns run bald through Vatican halls pregnant, pleadin' immaculate conception
And everybody's wrecked on Main Street from drinking unholy blood
Sticker smiles sweet as gunner breathes deep, his ankles caked in mud
And I said, "Hey, gunner man, that's quicksand, that's quicksand that ain't mud
Have you thrown your senses to the war or did you lose them in the flood?"

That pure American brother, dull-eyed and empty-faced
Races Sundays in Jersey in a Chevy stock super eight
He rides her low on the hip, on the side he's got Bound For Glory in red, white and blue flash paint
He leans on the hood telling racin' stories, the kids call him Jimmy The Saint
Well that blaze and noise boy, he's gunnin' that bitch loaded to blastin' point
He rides headfirst into a hurricane and disappears into a point
And there's nothin' left but some blood where the body fell
That is, nothin' left that you could sell
Just junk all across the horizon, a real highwayman's farewell
And I said, "Hey kid, you think that's oil? Man, that ain't oil, that's blood"
I wonder what he was thinking when he hit that storm
Or was he just lost in the flood?

Eighth Avenue sailors in satin shirts whisper in the air
Some storefront incarnation of Maria, she's puttin' on me the stare
And Bronx's best apostle stands with his hand on his own hardware
Everything stops, you hear five quick shots, the cops come up for air
And now the whiz-bang gang from uptown, they're shootin' up the street
Whoa, that cat from the Bronx starts lettin' loose, but he gets blown right off his feet
Oh, and some kid comes blastin' round the corner, but a cop puts him right away
He lays on the street holding his leg screaming something in Spanish
Still breathing when I walked away
And somebody said, "Hey man, did you see that? His body hit the street with such a beautiful thud"
I wonder what the dude was sayin', or was he just lost in the flood?
Well, hey man, did you see that, lord, those poor cats are sure messed up
I wonder what they were gettin' into, or were they all just lost in the flood?
Were they lost, oh, tell me, tell me, man
Were they lost?

Page last updated: 24 Jun 2012

Intro

Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, LOST IN THE FLOOD is the fifth track on his 1973 debut album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

The above lyrics are for Springsteen's studio version of LOST IN THE FLOOD as released on Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J..

Composition and Recording

LOST IN THE FLOOD was recorded during the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. album recording sessions, sometime between early July and early September 1972 at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, NY. Bruce Springsteen sings vocals on this track, and is backed by Vini Lopez on drums, David Sancious on piano and organ, and Garry Tallent on electric bass. The track also features dubbed sound effects courtesy of Steve Van Zandt added later in the sessions, including the opening "thunder crack" which Steve created by dropping an amplifier on a concrete floor. That was Van Zandt's sole contribution to the recording of the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. album. LOST IN THE FLOOD, as well as the whole album, was produced by Mike Appel and Jimmy Cretecos.

Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

After signing the contract with CBS Records, Laurel Canyon Productions was to receive an immediate cash advance from CBS and this money was to be used to pay for the studio time to record Springsteen' debut album. A delay by CBS in delivering the advance money to Laurel Canyon Productions resulted in delaying the sessions till early July 1972. During June Springsteen had finalized the selection of the musicians that would be used for the initial sessions. The musicians chosen, with an ok from Appel and Cretecos, constituted the entire lineup of the former Bruce Springsteen Band: David Sancious on keyboards, Gary Tallent on bass, Vini Lopez on drums, and Steve Van Zandt on quitar. Van Zandt ended up partaking in almost none of the 914 Sound Studios band sessions because of a prior commitment to tour as a member of The Dovells backing group.

The recording sessions for Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. spanned a period of five months, from early June to late October 1972 (the majority were in June), and they all took place at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, NY. The core "band" sessions were completed in only about two weeks. No unreleased band recordings from the debut album sessions have surfaced. Following these band sessions the various band members scattered. It should be noted that Springsteen had not decided to form a touring band at this stage.

Springsteen spent the next few weeks recording solo material. It was during this period that differences of opinion surfaced about what material was going to dominate the eventually released album. There were two sides in this disagreement: Mike Appel and John Hammond wanted a solo-dominated LP while Jim Cretecos was in favor of a band-dominated one. Springsteen was undecided at first, but soon sided with Cretecos. Appel later said that he was so impressed by Bruce's lyrics and told him, "Who needs a band when you can write lyrics like that?" In early August a compromise was reached and the album track selection was decided upon, featuring five band recordings (DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET, GROWIN' UP, IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY, FOR YOU, and LOST IN THE FLOOD) and five solo recordings (THE ANGEL, MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS, JAZZ MUSICIAN, ARABIAN NIGHTS, and VISITATION AT FORT HORN). On 10 Aug 1972 Laurel Canyon transferred the sound recording copyrights to these ten songs to CBS. It seemed the album was finalized, but when then CBS president Clive Davis listened to the tracks he commented that not only did he prefer the band tracks, but he also felt the album lacked a potential hit single. In essence Davis was siding with Springsteen's vision of the album as being more rock-orientated.

In August 1972 Springsteen composed two more commercial-sounding songs, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT and SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT. Consequently a further "band" session was required. However both Sancious and Tallent, then-employed at Alpha Sound Studios in Richmond, NJ, were unable to return to New York to record. Bruce wished to incorporate saxophone in both new songs and contacted Clarence Clemons, a then-member of Norman Seldin & The Joyful Noyze. So the studio session lineup for these two songs was Clemons, Lopez, and Springsteen who played all other instruments, except for the piano on BLINDED BY THE LIGHT which was handled by Harold Wheeler. BLINDED BY THE LIGHT and SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT were completed by early September. These two band recordings bumped three solo recordings: JAZZ MUSICIAN, ARABIAN NIGHTS, and VISITATION AT FORT HORN. Therefore the final album was reduced from 10 tracks to 9, encompassing 7 band tracks and 2 solo tracks. Columbia Records' original intention was to release the album in late November 1972, but decided the album might get overlooked among the massive amount of pre-Christmas releases so the LP was held back for until early January.

Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. was released on Columbia Records on 05 Jan 1973. It was produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos. The album received mixed but mostly positive reviews and some critics found it under-produced, as Appel and Cretecos tried to spend as little as possible from Columbia's $65,000 advance and recording budget. The album sold 25,000 copies only in its first year of release and did not chart until the summer of 1975 when the hype over the BORN TO RUN single attracted buyers to Springsteen's earlier albums.

Official Releases

The live 18 Nov 1975 version of LOST IN THE FLOOD was officially released on Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 CD and DVD in 2005. See the live 18 Nov 1975 version for more details. The live 01 Jul 2000 performance of LOST IN THE FLOOD was officially released in 2001 on Live In New York City, both the album and home video. See the live 01 Jun 2000 version for more details.

Live History

LOST IN THE FLOOD is known to have been performed at least 4 times during the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour. Very little is known about the 1972 and 1973 shows, and therefore, the song must've been played on some more dates. On this tour, the song was played in a full-band version, similar to the album version but even slower and more dirge-like.

14 Feb 1973 at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
26 Feb 1973 at Doug Weston's Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA
02 Mar 1973 at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA
14 Jun 1973 at Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY

LOST IN THE FLOOD is known to have been performed at least 10 times during The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle Tour. Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates. In the 1973 part of the tour, the song was performed in a full-band version, featuring a dramatic, extended piano intro by David Sancious (see the live 31 Oct 1973 (late show) version). In the 1974 part of the tour, the song was performed in a full-band version, featuring a new dramatic, extended piano intro led by Roy Bittan on piano but including the full band, which bears a strong resemblance to the one which would accompany IT'S MY LIFE on later tours (see the live 19 Oct 1974 version).

30 Oct 1973 (late show) at The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA
31 Oct 1973 (late show) at The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA
19 Sep 1974 (early show) at The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA
20 Sep 1974 at Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA
04 Oct 1974 at Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, NY
05 Oct 1974 at Albright College, Reading, PA
11 Oct 1974 at Shady Grove Music Fair, Gaithersburg, MD
12 Oct 1974 at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
19 Oct 1974 at Union College, Schenectady, NY
08 Nov 1974 at Ritz Music Hall, Corpus Christi, TX

LOST IN THE FLOOD is known to have been performed at least 16 times during the Born To Run Tour: 16 times during the 1st leg (73 know dates / 81 known shows, between July and December 1975) and 0 times during the 2nd leg (35 know dates, between March and May 1976). The 1976 portion of the tour would soon be nicknamed the "Chicken Scratch Tour" by the road crew because of the high proportion of secondary market, southern state locations. Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates during the Born To Run Tour, the November to December 1975 period in particular. On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement, featuring a piano intro and outro by Roy Bittan and a number of revamped lyrics. Audio and video for the complete 18 Nov 1975 show at Hammersmith Odeon in London, England, was released in 2005 on the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 CD and DVD. See the live 18 Nov 1975 version for more details.

18 Nov 1975 at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England
21 Nov 1975 at Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden
23 Nov 1975 at RAI Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
24 Nov 1975 at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England
02 Dec 1975 at Music Hall, Boston, MA
03 Dec 1975 at Music Hall, Boston, MA
05 Dec 1975 at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
06 Dec 1975 at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
10 Dec 1975 at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
11 Dec 1975 at Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
12 Dec 1975 at C.W. Post College, Greenvale, NY
16 Dec 1975 at State University Of New York, Oswego, NY
17 Dec 1975 at Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY
20 Dec 1975 at National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Canada
21 Dec 1975 at Seneca College, Toronto, Canada
27 Dec 1975 at Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA

LOST IN THE FLOOD is known to have been performed at least three times during the 111-date-long Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, all in a period of less than a week. A few setlists from that period are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour. On this tour, the song was played in a solo piano arrangement on this tour; these were the first solo performances of the song.

After disappearing from Springsteen's repertoire for 22 years, LOST IN THE FLOOD was performed one time during the 132-date-long The Reunion Tour, on the tour's very last show. The song was played in a full-band arrangement that featured a piano intro and outro by Roy Bittan. The 01 Jul 2000 performance of LOST IN THE FLOOD was officially released in 2001 on the Live In New York City album and home video. See the live 01 Jul 2000 version for more details.

LOST IN THE FLOOD was performed 3 times during the 120-date-long The Rising Tour. The first performance was a solo piano rendition featuring a vocal intro and outro sung by Bruce, while the remaining two were a full-band renditions featuring a violin intro and outro by Soozie Tyrell.

In preparation for the Vote For Change Tour, LOST IN THE FLOOD is known to have been practiced during two of the tour's three private rehearsals that took place from 27 to 29 Sep 2004 in Asbury Park.

LOST IN THE FLOOD was performed once during the Vote For Change Tour, on the first date of the tour. The song was played in a full-band arrangement featuring a violin-and-vocal intro and outro by Soozie Tyrell and Bruce. See the live 01 Oct 2004 version for more details.

In preparation for the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour, LOST IN THE FLOOD was performed during one of the tour's two public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in April 2005 in Asbury Park. The song is also known to have been practiced during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place in March and April 2005 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's first leg.

LOST IN THE FLOOD was performed 15 times during the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour. The song was played in a solo piano arrangement featuring an outro, and sometimes additionally an intro.

07 Jun 2005 at Datch Forum, Milan, Italy
15 Jun 2005 at Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
14 Jul 2005 at Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada
20 Jul 2005 at Arena At Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, CT
23 Jul 2005 at Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
31 Jul 2005 at Value City Theatre, Columbus, OH
10 Aug 2005 at Rose Garden Theater Of The Clouds, Portland, OR
04 Oct 2005 at Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
07 Oct 2005 at Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT
09 Oct 2005 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
15 Oct 2005 at Dane County Arena At Alliant Center, Madison, WI
20 Oct 2005 at DCU Center, Worcester, MA
30 Oct 2005 at TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
13 Nov 2005 at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ
16 Nov 2005 at Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

LOST IN THE FLOOD appeared 4 times during the 100-date-long Magic Tour, all of them in the U.S. in 2008. The song was played in a full-band version featuring a piano outro by Roy Bittan. Charles Giordano played organ on all four performances.

22 Mar 2008 at U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH
28 Mar 2008 at The Rose Garden, Portland, OR
23 Apr 2008 at Amway Arena, Orlando, FL
27 Apr 2008 at Charlotte Bobcats Arena, Charlotte, NC

LOST IN THE FLOOD was performed twice during the 83-date-long Working On A Dream Tour. The song was played in a full-band version featuring a piano intro by Roy Bittan.

References in Popular Culture

Jimmy The Saint, the central figure in LOST IN THE FLOOD, was the inspiration behind the lead character in the 1995 Gary Fleder directed film Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, featuring Andy Garcia as Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia.

Covers

As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's LOST IN THE FLOOD.

Available Versions

Credits / References

Some of the above info about the studio recording and the live performances is taken from Brucebase.