JPF Home Page Forums Lyric and MP3 Feedback Lyric Feedback Forum 2 TORNADO!

This one has "machine-gun" lyrics in the verses. It will come in right at 3:30. Can't help myself; about once a year I just have to write one of these....

TORNADO! © 2004 dawg, BMI

I was playing tag with my friends
when Momma yelled to come on in
The sky was turning dark and it held the threat of rain
My friends turned and ran along
scurryin' to reach their homes
'fore the wind whipped water could hit the window panes.

Lightning flashed off to the west
and mama said she thought it best
to go down to the cellar beneath the kitchen floor.
Thunder made a booming sound
then dead silence all around
Pop got the critters in and bolted the barn door.

(Chorus)
I don't mind the rain and I don't mind the thunder.
Lightning is ok with me and I'm fine with the snow.
Hurricanes can be a pain and floods can wash the crops away.
I'll take the drought without a doubt, just keep the tornado.
Just keep the tornado.

Hail like Hell's own brimstone
beat the roof above our home
but that was just the warmup act, not the main event.
A funnel cloud marched 'cross the field
spun the silo like a carraige wheel
bowed my head; but no time to repent.

Sucked all the water out the creek
to wash down a herd of yearling beef
can't erase the sight of cattle in the sky.
Ripped up big trees across the spread
its ravenous hunger can't be fed
and the roaring sound of Satan's battle cry.

(Chorus)
I don't mind the rain and I don't mind the thunder.
Lightning is ok with me and I'm fine with the snow.
Hurricanes can be a pain and floods can wash the crops away.
I'll take the drought without a doubt, just keep the tornado.
Just keep the tornado.

Men of science read the signs
of inversion layers and thermoclines
in order to predict the coming of these storms.
Our preacher says the sins of man
puts the weather in Satan's hands
and tornado's the embodiment of his evil form.

(Chorus)
I don't mind the rain and I don't mind the thunder.
Lightning is ok with me and I'm fine with the snow.
Hurricanes can be a pain and floods can wash the crops away.
I'll take the drought without a doubt, just keep the tornado.
Just keep the tornado.

I've been in hurricanes, North Atlantic gales, dodged water spouts at sea and various other unpleasantries....but the tornado is definitely my least favorite weather occurrence. I can certainly relate to the sentiment in this. Not to mention it's very well written. Fine job, as usual.

Randy

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http://www.songramp.com/homepage.ez?Who=RandyB

Yeah nothing like the power of a tornado... kinda like an inverted drain sucking up into the sky rather than down the toilet...

Loved this couplet..

Sucked all the water out the creek
to wash down a herd of yearling beef


And I experienced one of Canada's rare tornadoes when it took out swaths of trees and part of a sub division in Woodstock Ontario back in the late seventees. Awesome destructive power out of a sickeningly green sky...


Well written as always.

Mornin' Dawg,

That's exactly why I'm still in California! Earthquakes are no fun, but they don't last long.

Some great images here..."cattle in the sky"... Visited an aunt in OK a few years back and she gave us a tour of the cellar...said she had it sprayed regularly for scorpions!

Good song!

Hi Dawg

interesting take you have on MR Bob Young's last visit, but seriously can see Bob doing this twister of a tale!!!

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http://www.ampcast.com/music/26305/artist.php

Mornin'Randy,

and thank you most kindly.

To be perfectly honest, there are lots of kinds of storms I am not particularly fond of, but tornados are the worst. They come through our area fairly often in the spring, but our house has stood for over a hundred years, so I figure our location is decent.<g>

Thanks for the read and the very kind words.

dawg

Durn it, Burleyman,

Now you got me wondering if Tornados spin backwards south of the equator (like drains do).

The amount of things I do not know is astounding. Makes me wonder how I managed to live this long.<g>

Thanks for the read and the kind words.

dawg

Hello Ann,

and thank you. It is always so nice when you drop in.

I've been through both, but never a big earthquake and I am certain I do not want to go through a big one.

Thank you for taking the time to read and for the kind words.

dawg

I like, and I can certainly relate. If there's a weak spot, it's that the chorus seems a little long... after v1, I was ready for v2 almost immediately, this is a story song and they generally have short choruses, a refrain line, or just a bridge... so that's why this chorus is a bit long, IMO. Other'n that, this is a gem. When I was a kid, we had a tornado that sucked the attic door into the attic, stuck leaves to the inside of our window screens (that's back when they said to open the windows during a tornado), and blew our cargo carrier 2 miles away but didn't put a scratch on it.

CP

[This message has been edited by Corey (edited 05-11-2004).]

Hello Joyce,

Just wait 'til Bob sees the tee shirt I ordered for him..<g>

He may not claim to even know me after that!

Thanks for the read and the comments.

dawg

A great lyric here dawg. You have captured the moment and the emotion.

No "nits" from me.

Douglas

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"You can do what ever you want to do where ever you want to go.
It's up to you." John Denver

My Homepage is at:

www.besonic.com/douglasmurphy

let me guess

fragile handle with care

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http://www.ampcast.com/music/26305/artist.php

Hello Corey,

and thank you.

Will sleep on it and see if I can find a way to shorten the chorus a bit.

Thanks for the read and the kind words.

dawg

Hi Dawg,

Well the lightin' is dancin' and we're under a TORNADO watch for the next hour,
60 mph winds in the area and some small hail, so I had a good read

Nice lyric, good luck with it

Regards
Bill

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The best things in life wind-up_ LostNTexas

Evenin' Douglas,

and thank you kindly. You notice I stay away from writing about blizzards and the frozen north.<g> If I have to experience it to write about it, I darn sure don't want to freeze.

Thanks for the read and the kind words.

dawg

Hello Dawg,

Nice job.


Calvin

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewartmusic.htm

Sorry Joyce,

You've got to come to Pineyfest (or bribe someone with a camera) to find out what is says.<g>

dawg

Howdy Dawg,

Enjoyed the read on this one. I sat through the eye of several hurricanes during my 48 years in Florida, and saw the devastation left by a number of tornadoes, but the closest I ever got to one was watching "Twister." Pretty spooky movie. Your song evokes the same kind of feeling. Nice job bringing this to life.

Larry

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www.taylormadesongs.com

Bill,

are you crazy or what?

It the lightning is ticklin' the tree tops til they literally split their sides laughing and the hail is turning new car dealerships in sheet metal divot-o-rama and you're under a tornado warning ... the last thing you need to be doing is reading this lyric. Hell man, that could fry your modem. Turn the 'puter and read a book.<g>

Thanks for the read under such stressful conditions and the nice comments.

dawg

Mornin' Calvin,

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.

dawg

Dawg

Without a doubt the worst of all storms I'd say. They've always been around but seem to be happening on a grander scale these days.

Well written piece with lots of great images even if you lied and said you're fine with snow.....We'll let ya away with that this time. Every lyricist has to do a little lyin to get some things into perspective. I imagine you're fine with snow as long as it's up here and you're down there. Can't fool the old Eric!

Have a good ol southern day.

Eric

Mornin' Larry,

and thank you. I have been around a few bad ones and in one. I was working at our family business in Virginia while my parents were on vacation in Hawaii. The tornado literally ripped the entire roof off a four story trunk factory next door and dropped it on the employees cars in our parking lot.

My dad had boat he had been trying to sell, a SeaRay that would sleep four, and it had been undercover behind our office building.
I had just picked it up with a forklift and was headed around the office to raise and drop it when our insurance agent drove through the gate. He thought I was moving it inside the warehouse so that it would be better protected and spent fifteen minutes telling me what a good customer I was.<g>

Thanks for the read and for sharing.

dawg

Eric,

I didn't lie. I love snow ... on postcards. I don't mind a good ol' 4 or 5 inch snowstorm, so long as it is gone the next day, which is pretty much the case here

Thanks for the read and the kind words.

dawg

I'll keep the snow and frozen north...used to it by now and can drive real good in the winter. Only real thing I hate is not having a garage and the salty mess.

I've never seen a tornado but have alway sbeen intrigued by them...seen most every movie about them and have a book on them. Don't want to ever see one live though. I like how you describe them dawg...made me respect them even more.

I like this line: "Hurricanes can be a pain and floods can wash the crops away." I'm learning more and more from everyone here and love how you enhanced the fact about hurricanes and floods by going further with the "washing the crops away"!

Afternoon Linda,

and thank you so much. It is always such a pleasure when you visit.

I had a friend in Medway, MN who kept inviting me up in the winter to go snowmobiling around Mt. Kahtadin, but I managed to put him for enough years that he eventually gave up on me.<g>

dawg

thanks for your hospitality Dawg! went to Medway once for a wedding and reception...land the reception was on was very nice. I've never snowmobiled but had many neighbors who owned them further north...seems it was a means of travel up that way. I just drove my little honda at the time...few spins but still made it to Bangor to work daily. I know people who are in a club and it seems to be quite a safe minded sport...the trails are kept good and people who are experienced stay on their side of the road...it's the inexperienced that make it dangerous I'm told. You do know that we have some of the best summers around...maybe you and yours should visit sometime!

We're hosting JPF sometime this summer. The Maine Songwriters Association is coordinating it. I'm looking forward to meeting who ever can come on up! Take Care