The Flood – English Lyrics

• By: Cheryl Cole
• Album: A Million Lights

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the emotive lyrics of Cheryl Cole's "The Flood" to deepen your English language skills. This beautiful ballad is rich with metaphorical language, particularly water imagery like 'slipping through my fingers' and 'natural disaster love,' offering an excellent opportunity to learn how to express profound sadness and loss. Its clear narrative about a failing relationship makes it easy to follow along, while its melancholic melody makes the emotional expressions even more impactful.

[English]

Turn the lights out, in the light house,

I saw you coming,

Felt the ship wreck

Saw the wreckage, I heard you yelling,

Just a mess when I saw your reflection in the sand,

Wondering where you were washed up,

Or I ran to the water, mmmmm,

I can put my hands down in it,

But I won't bring nothing up,

Sitting at the shore all day, waiting on the tide to come

But you can't hold on to water,

It fills you up but never stays,

It's only good to wash away,

Today and your loving me like water,

You're slipping through my fingers touch,

Natural disaster love, bringing on the flood,

The flood,

Love me like a flood, the flood,

Bring it on,

Stay the night out, by the beach house,

It's oh so quiet,

Lit a candle,

By the window, so you might find it,

Hope you know you'll always have a place to call your home,

Still I can't help but think I could have saved you from drowning,

Ohhh, oh,

I can put my hands down in it, yeah,

But I won't bring nothing up,

Sitting on the shore all day

Just waiting on the tide to come,

But you can't hold on to water,

It fills you up but never stays,

It's only good to wash away,

Today and your loving me like water,

You're slipping through my fingers touch,

Natural disaster love, bringing on the flood,

The flood,

Love me like a flood, the flood,

Bring it on,

I knew the waves were icy, when I felt them all retreating,

Went to take a dive in the deep end,

Oh, what was I thinking?

But you can't hold on to water,

It fills you up but never stays,

It's only good to wash away,

Today and your loving me like water,

You're slipping through my fingers touch,

Natural disaster love, bringing on the flood,

The flood,

Love me like a flood, the flood,

Bring it on,

Ohohohoh ohohohoh

Rising and falling in my dreams,

Rising and the falling of my tears that fill the ocean, (the ocean, the ocean)

Key Grammar Structures

• Turn the lights out, in the light house,

  ➔ Present Simple Passive Voice

  ➔ The phrase uses the present simple passive voice with 'turn' as the main verb, indicating a general action or instruction.

• I saw you coming,

  ➔ Past Simple

  ➔ The verb 'saw' is in the past simple tense, indicating a completed action in the past.

• But you can't hold on to water,

  ➔ Modal Verb (can't)

  ➔ The modal verb 'can't' is used to express inability or impossibility.

• It fills you up but never stays,

  ➔ Present Simple with 'but' contrast

  ➔ The present simple tense is used with 'but' to contrast two ideas: filling up and not staying.

• You're slipping through my fingers touch,

  ➔ Present Continuous

  ➔ The present continuous tense with 'slipping' indicates an action happening now.

• Natural disaster love, bringing on the flood,

  ➔ Present Participle as Adjective

  ➔ The present participle 'bringing' is used as an adjective to describe 'love'.

• Rising and falling in my dreams,

  ➔ Present Participle in Contrast

  ➔ The present participles 'rising' and 'falling' are used to contrast actions in the sentence.

• The flood, Love me like a flood, the flood,

  ➔ Vocative or Repetition for Emphasis

  ➔ The repetition of 'the flood' is used for emphasis and emotional impact.