Starting off with the haunting echoing of steel string suspended minor chords, and quickly moving into the feeling of darkness, Floods reigns as one of the greatest metal balladry songs of all time. With a time of 6:59 (minutes and seconds), Floods deals with the internal struggle, elements of corruption, and dissolution of troubles (wash away man/ take him with the floods), that is not dismissed or watered down into a three-minute wad of sound. Pantera's pervasive composing abilities are seen not only in the length of this track, but it its bridges and structured solo set ups. Phil Anselmo delivers this song on the back of Dimebag Darrell's mighty 'steel' guitar effect, and of course the trademark bass drums and top-hat kicks of Vinnie Paul that have made Pantera so famous. The bridge perhaps extracts the greatest meaning from the song; it epitomizes itself on the power chord riff solos and Anselmo's godly muttering of "floods" (in which we can picture a Goliath or force of destruction coming in to obliterate all existence), which echoes throughout the solo. A rather dark song, Floods is characterized by its catchy guitar work (which contains a spectrum of minor and suspended shapes), and staircase wit/reflective backdrop mumbling vocals about the cold, harsh realities of life. Recommended to anyone who doubts this band's ability to do other than scream and wax metallic, Floods will not be a disappointing track. The bleak acceptance of moving onto new horizons or ways of life, leaving the old and dead behind and walking on down the road, is embodied in the ending solo, with the subtle sound of rainfall calming the listener in the end. 5 out of 5 stars for its genre.
personally, i enjoy this song in a large part because of the story it tells. i would really like for this to happen to me... it's just a very poignant thing. as to the mechanics of the song, however, some gentle strumming and a bit of classical guitar-style picking lends to the mellow and comforting quality of this song (and the whole album).
from Quiet is the New Loud, available on CD (Astralworks)
FCS: I like this song also, both because of lyrics and melody. And I suggest you check out Royksopp's remix of this song
soundtrack for "Spirited Away", a beautiful Japanese animated film for all ages.
I love this song as a piano piece as well as in full orchestra form.
Joe Hisaishi is my hero.
Sound is suttle in the beginning- (a mute organ is playing)and rises gradually. Voice is insanely calming.
The song has so much meaning and it just makes you think about what's out there and it'ss my fav song write now. It's kind of a love-song- but it makes me think more?