In 1973, Springsteen released his first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, neither of which earned him a large audience. He changed his style and reached worldwide popularity with Born to Run in 1975. It was followed by Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980), which topped the US Billboard 200 chart. After the solo recording, Nebraska (1982), he reunited with the E Street Band for Born in the U.S.A. (1984), his most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums of all time. Seven of its singles reached the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100, including the title track. Springsteen recorded his next three albums, Tunnel of Love (1987), Human Touch (1992), and Lucky Town (1992) using mostly session musicians. He reassembled the E Street Band for 1995's Greatest Hits, then recorded the sparse acoustic The Ghost of Tom Joad, followed by the EP Blood Brothers (1996), his last release of the decade.
Springsteen dedicated his 2002 album The Rising to the victims of the September 11 attacks. He released two more folk albums, Devils & Dust (2005) and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006), followed by two more albums with the E Street Band: Magic (2007) and Working on a Dream (2009). The next two, Wrecking Ball (2012) and High Hopes (2014), topped album charts worldwide. His latest releases include the solo Western Stars (2019), the E Street Band-featuring Letter to You (2020) and a solo cover album Only the Strong Survive (2022). When Letter to You went to No.2 in the US, Springsteen became the first artist to score a Top Five hit across six consecutive decades.
Among the album era's prominent acts, Springsteen has sold more than 140 million records worldwide and more than 71 million in the United States, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award (for Springsteen on Broadway). Springsteen was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, named MusiCares person of the year in 2013, and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2016. He ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's list of the Greatest Artists of All Time, which described him as being "the embodiment of rock & roll".
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen
Studio albums
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973)
Born to Run (1975)
Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
The River (1980)
Nebraska (1982)
Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
Tunnel of Love (1987)
Human Touch (1992)
Lucky Town (1992)
The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995)
The Rising (2002)
Devils & Dust (2005)
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)
Magic (2007)
Working on a Dream (2009)
Wrecking Ball (2012)
High Hopes (2014)
Western Stars (2019)
Letter to You (2020)
Only the Strong Survive (2022)
Lost in the Flood
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like a hungry runaway
He walks through town all alone
"He must be from the fort"
He hears the high school girls say
His countryside's burnin'
With wolfman fairies dressed in drag for homicide
The hit-and-run plead sanctuary
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 'er 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 racing 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 head first 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
Oh, 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 someone 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?
Hey man, did you see that?
Those poor cats are sure messed up
I wonder what they were gettin' into
Or were they all just lost in the flood?
The lyrics to Bruce Springsteen's "Lost in the Flood" depict a chaotic scene where the singer, who is returning home, witnesses a host of unsettling events. He hears high school girls referring to him as from "the fort," which is likely a reference to a military base, perhaps indicating that the character is a veteran. As he continues to walk through town, he sees "wolfman fairies dressed in drag for homicide," and "hit-and-run" individuals seeking sanctuary, which leads them to hide beneath a "holy stone." In this world, nuns are running bald through Vatican halls, pleading for "immaculate conception," and everyone seems to be drunk on "unholy blood."
The singer then encounters a guy named Gunner, who seems to be lost and confused, wandering through the muck with "ankles caked in mud." The second verse introduces us to the character Jimmy the Saint, who races cars and tells stories about his exploits. The song's third and final section sees the return of the singer, who is now in an urban environment, witnessing gang violence and a police shootout. The final lines suggest a deep sense of confusion and disorientation, as he asks, echoing the questions of the earlier verses, "I wonder what the dude was sayin', or was he just lost in the flood?"
Overall, "Lost in the Flood" is a vivid and surreal depiction of modern life, one that is populated by various cultural forces such as war, violence, and religion. Springsteen uses detailed, poetic language to create a kind of modern mythology, one that captures both the darkness and potential beauty of contemporary American society.
Line by Line Meaning
The ragamuffin gunner is returnin' home like a hungry runaway
A soldier who has been through war is coming home and he looks like he is hungry and desperate to get back to his normal life.
He walks through town all alone--'He must be from the fort,' he hears the high school girls say
The soldier is walking through town by himself and the local high school girls think he might be from the nearby military base.
His countryside's burnin' with wolfman fairies dressed in drag for homicide
The soldier's homeland is full of chaos and destruction caused by violent and unpredictable forces.
The hit-and-run plead sanctuary, 'neath a holy stone they hide
Someone who committed a hit-and-run accident is seeking refuge and protection under a religious object.
They're breakin' beams and crosses with a spastic's reelin' perfection
The chaotic forces in the soldier's homeland are destroying religious symbols with frenzied and uncontrollable movements.
Nuns run bald through Vatican halls, pregnant, pleadin' immaculate conception
Even the most sacred and holy places are affected by the chaos, with pregnant nuns frantically seeking a miracle.
And everybody's wrecked on Main Street from drinking unholy blood
The people in the soldier's town are suffering and losing their minds after drinking something contaminated or cursed.
Sticker smiles sweet as Gunner breathes deep, his ankles caked in mud
The soldier tries to maintain a positive attitude even though he is covered in dirt and mud from the chaos that surrounds him.
And I said, 'Hey, gunner man, that's qucksand, that's quicksand, that ain't mud
Someone is warning the soldier that he might be sinking in quicksand, but it's also a metaphor for him being trapped and overwhelmed by the chaos around him.
Have you thrown your senses to the war, or did you lose them in the flood?'
The artist questions whether the soldier has become numb and disconnected from reality because of his experiences in the war or because of the chaos he has returned to.
That pure American brother, dull-eyed and empty-faced
This describes someone who seems like a stereotypical all-American guy, but is dead inside and has lost his spark.
Races Sundays in Jersey in a Chevy stock super eight
The dull American guy spends his time racing his car in New Jersey on the weekends.
He rides 'er low on the hip, on the side he's got 'Bound for Glory' in red, white and blue flash paint
The guy has painted the phrase 'Bound for Glory' on his car in patriotic colors, perhaps as a way to show his support for his country.
He leans on the hood telling racing stories, the kids call him Jimmy the Saint
The man stands around his car telling stories about his racing experiences and is known by the nickname Jimmy the Saint.
Well, that blaze-and-noise boy, he's gunnin' that bitch loaded to blastin' point
This describes another guy who is speeding down the road in his car and pushing it to its limit.
He rides head first into a hurricane and disappears into a point
The reckless driver crashes or disappears in some way, possibly because of the danger he put himself in while driving so fast.
And there's nothin' left but some blood where the body fell, that is, nothin' left that you could sell
The person who crashed is dead or severely injured, and there is no value left in the car or anything else at the scene.
Just junk all across the horizon, a real highwayman's farewell
The scene of the crash is littered with debris that stretches out into the distance, almost like a goodbye from the reckless driver.
And I said, 'Hey kid, you think that's oil? Man, that ain't oil, that's blood
Someone is trying to tell a young person that the red substance on the ground from the car crash is not oil, but rather the blood of the person who was driving.
I wonder what he was thinking when he hit that storm, or was he just lost in the flood?'
The artist questions whether the driver was taking a risk on purpose or if he was simply overwhelmed and unable to control his actions.
Eighth Avenue sailors in satin shirts whisper in the air
This line describes people who are dressed up and seem like they are up to no good.
Some storefront incarnation of Maria, she's puttin' on me the stare
There is a woman in a storefront who is giving someone a suspicious look.
And Bronx's best apostle stands with his hand on his own hardware
This refers to a man from the Bronx who is carrying a weapon and ready to defend himself if necessary.
Everything stops, you hear five quick shots, the cops come up for air
There is a shooting and everything comes to a halt, the only sound is gunfire, and the police eventually arrive.
And now the whiz-bang gang from uptown, they're shootin' up the street
This describes a gang from the city who are shooting up the street with complete abandon.
And that cat from the Bronx starts lettin' loose, but he gets blown right off his feet
The man from the Bronx starts shooting back, but he is quickly defeated and thrown off balance.
And some kid comes blastin' 'round the corner, but a cop puts him right away
A kid comes around the corner and starts shooting, but a police officer is quick to stop him before he can cause more harm.
He lays on the street holding his leg, screaming something in Spanish, still breathing when I walked away
The kid who was shot is severely injured but still alive, and he is screaming in Spanish as the artist walks away from the scene.
And somebody said, 'Hey man, did you see that? His body hit the street with such a beautiful thud'
Someone is commenting on the sound that the kid made when he was shot and hit the ground, but the comment is callous and inappropriate.
I wonder what the dude was sayin', or was he just lost in the flood?
The singer wonders what the kid was screaming and whether he was aware of what was happening, or if he was just consumed by the chaos surrounding him.
Hey man, did you see that, those poor cats are sure messed up
The singer is commenting on how the people involved in the chaotic incidents are truly suffering and unable to escape their situations.
I wonder what they were gettin' into, or were they just lost in the flood?
The artist is questioning whether the people involved in the chaotic incidents were seeking out trouble or if they were trapped in their situations, unable to escape the chaos around them.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bruce Springsteen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind