Red River Flood

Manitoba is a land of many lakes
The prairie crocus make no mistake
Riding Mountain and the Hudson Bay
Way down south to the tall grass plains
There’s water in the fuel and water in the blood
The later the melt the greater the flood
You ought to see what it can be like
Bring another pump and build another dike
We’ve been sandbagging every night and day
Just to try and keep the water at bay
The River is a-rising and the Red’s gonna flood
We’re standing our ground in the Manitoba mud
From Emerson and Morris and Ste. Agathe
They said that it really was a-rising fast
We’re holding our own and holding our breath
We’re all just waiting for the river to crest
There’s water in the fields and water in the farms
Up in the bins and up in the barns
We’re going under an inch at a time
It’s up to the cab on the big combine
So there I was at the Grain Exchange down on mortgage and pain
I couldn’t find any higher ground so here’s where I’m a gonna stay
There’s a sharp-tail grouse out in the field
He says to the Grey Owl I’m getting' out of here
Up the Assiniboine, up the Qu' Appelle
They’ve been fightin' that river since Louis Riel
That’s about all and that’s about it
This land is flatter than a Bodewash chip
Batten down your barriers and barricades
That’s how it is living on a flood plain
We ain’t gonna leave and we ain’t gonna quit
We’ve got the ring dike and we’ve got Duff’s Ditch
We’ll be right here where the river flows
Come hell or high water or both