You know the year was 1900,15 years ago
Death came howling on the ocean
Death calls, you gotta go
Galveston had a sea wall
To keep the water down
And a high tide from the ocean
Spread the water over the town

Wasn't that a mighty storm
Wasn't that a mighty storm
Wasn't that a mighty storm
It blew the people all away

You know the trumpets gave them warning
You'd better leave this place
Now no one thought of leaving
'Til Death stared them in the face
And the trains they all were loaded
The people were all leaving town
The trestles gave way to the water
And the trains they went on down, now

Rain it was a fallin'
Thunder began to roll
Lightning flashed like hellfire
The wind began to blow
And the seas began to rollin'
And the ships they could not stand
And I heard a captain crying
Good God save a drownin' man

Death, your hands are clammy
You got them on my knee
You come and took my mother
Won't you come back for me?
Death you cruel master
When the wind began to blow
Rode in on a team of horses
Cried oh Death won't you let me go?