Los Angeles New Years Flood
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
Contact Publisher - Woody Guthrie Publications/BMG Chrysalis

Oh, my friends, do you remember?
On that fatal New Year's night
The lights of old Los Angeles
Were a flick'ring, Oh, so bright.
A cloud burst hit our city
And it swept away our homes;
It swept away our loved ones
In that fatal New Years flood.

No, you could not see it coming
Till through our town it rolled;
One hundred souls were taken
In that fatal New Years flood.

Whilst we all celebrated
That happy New Year's Eve,
We knew not in the morning
This whole wide world would grieve;
The waters filled our canyons
And down our mountains rolled;
That sad news rocked our nation
As of this flood it told.

No, you could not see it coming
Till through our town it rolled;
One hundred souls were taken
In that fatal New Years flood.

Our highways were blockaded
Our bridges all washed down,
Our houses wrecked and scattered
As the flood came a-rumblin' down;
I bow my head in silence
And I thank my God above
That He did not take my home from me
In that fatal New Year's flood.

No, you could not see it coming
Till through our town it rolled;
One hundred souls were taken
In that fatal New Years flood.


© 1963 (renewed) and 1991 (renewed) by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
Available on:

American Radical Patriot
Woody Guthrie

Library of Congress Recordings
Woody Guthrie
*Out of print. The complete unedited Library of Congress Recording Sessions is included in American Radical Patriot 7-CD set.