Mighty Day
Roger McGuinn Lyrics

I remember one September,
The opening line sets the scene for the song, where the singer remembers a stormy September day.

When storm winds swept the town;
The singer describes the strong winds that caused destruction in the town.

The high tide from the ocean, Lord,
The storm surge brought by the hurricane caused the ocean water level to rise significantly.

Put water all around.
The water covered the town completely, causing widespread flooding.

Wasn't that a mighty day,
The artist uses this refrain to emphasize the magnitude of the storm and its impact on the affected area.

A mighty day
The refrain is repeated to further emphasize the severity of the situation.

A mighty day,
This line is repeated to emphasize the significance of the event.

Great God, that morning
The artist expresses his astonishment and fear of the mighty storm by calling out to God.

When the storm winds swept the town!
The artist reiterates the effect of the storm on the town.

There was a sea-wall there in Galveston
The Galveston sea-wall was meant to protect the town from strong winds and high tides.

To keep the waters down,
The sea-wall was constructed to prevent the waters from flooding into the town.

But the high tide from the ocean, Lord,
Despite the sea-wall, the strong hurricane winds caused the tide to breach the wall and flood the town.

Put water in the town.
The resulting flood caused severe damage and destruction to the town and its people.

The trumpets warned the people,
The singer describes the warning given by the local authorities to evacuate the area.

"You'd better leave this place!"
The warning advised people to leave their homes to avoid the impending danger.

But they never meant to leave their homes
Despite the warning, some people chose to stay behind as they could not bear to leave their homes and possessions behind.

Till death was in their face.
Some people only realized the severity of the situation when they were faced with certain death.

The trains they all were loaded
The singer describes the exodus of people from the town, using trains as a means of transport.

With people leaving town;
The trains were filled with people fleeing the area to avoid the impending danger.

The tracks gave way to the ocean, Lord,
Due to the severe flooding, train tracks were damaged and destroyed.

And the trains they went on down.
The trains, along with the people inside, were swept away by the raging floodwaters.

The seas began to rolling,
The artist describes the churning waves of the ocean, which intensified due to the hurricane and the resulting storm surge.

The ships they could not land;
The strong winds and waves made it impossible for ships to dock or reach the shore safely.

I heard a Captain crying,
The artist shares an anecdote of hearing a ship captain pleading to God for help.

"God, please save a drowning man!"
The ship captain, facing certain death, begs God to save him and his crew from the sinking ship.

The waters, like some river,
The floodwaters were so powerful that they resembled a raging river, crushing everything in their path.

Came a-rushing to and fro;
The singer describes the intensity and power of the floodwaters as they surged back and forth.

I saw my father drowning, God,
The artist recounts the tragic loss of his father, who drowned in the floodwaters.

And I watched my mother go!
The artist also lost his mother to the floods, witnessing her being swept away by the powerful waters.

Now death, your hands are icy;
The singer addresses death, personifying it as an entity with cold hands, symbolic of its finality.

You've got them on my knee.
The singer acknowledges that death has claimed his loved ones and that he is next in line.

You took away my mother,
The artist laments the loss of his mother to death, blaming it for taking her away from him.

Now you're coming after me!
The artist acknowledges his own mortality and accepts death as an inevitable fate, as it approaches him too.