<< Back to Song of Wind & Weather Project

GALVESTON WALTZ
©Gary Bowman

Twas nineteen-hundred, September the eighth
Our East Texas town, Met a sad fate
A 30-mile strip, On a sandy spit
No sea-wall for safety, When the hurricane hit
No sea-wall for safety, When the hurricane hit

Bureaucrats said, We’ve nothing to fear,
As an off-shore storm, Was drawing near,
Northward to Florida, It surely will go
Out in the Gulf of Mexico,
Way out in the Gulf of Mexico

We gathered at beaches, With little regard
The clouds rolled in, The winds blew hard
The storm spun west, To our low-lying shore
With a tidal surge, 15 feet, or more,
With a tidal surge, 15 feet, or more

The nuns at St. Mary’s, All gathered around,
With 93 orphans, in Galveston town
A rising tide, No place to go
Singing “Queen of the Waves,”
As the storm waters rose

“Queen of the Waves, look, Forth ‘cross the ocean,
From north to south, From east to west
See how the water’s tumultuous motion
Rise up and foam, Without pause or rest
Rise up and foam, Without pause or rest”

That hurricane blew, All the night long
The nuns and the orphans, Huddled in song
The storm blew north, At morning’s light
Daybreak revealed, A most gruesome sight
Daybreak revealed, A most gruesome sight

Destruction and ruin, Throughout the town,
Precious lives lost, Many were drowned
That beautiful island was ill-prepared
When the hurricane hit, No one was spared
When the hurricane hit, No one was spared

The nuns at St. Mary’s, All gathered around,
With 93 orphans, In Galveston town
All save three, found a watery grave
Together they sang “Queen of the Waves”

“Queen of the Waves, Look forth ‘cross the ocean,
From north to south, From east to west
See how the water's tumultuous motion
Rise up and foam, Without pause or rest
Rise up and foam, Without pause or rest”