Song · Florence And The Machine
“What the Water Gave Me” by Florence And The Machine
From the album Ceremonials (2011)
“What the Water Gave Me” by Florence And The Machine appears on 12 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 2011 and 2022. It was first released in 2011 on the album Ceremonials. Its best result is #11 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 2011. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #89 alternative song of 2011, #5,823 alternative song of all time and #435 of the '10s.
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Video from YouTube (FlorenceMachineVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"What the Water Gave Me" was the first taste of Ceremonials, Florence and the Machine's second album, surfacing as a promotional single in August 2011 after the band had tried it out on stage in Berkeley, California, that June. Florence Welch wrote it with Francis "Eg" White and borrowed the title from a 1938 Frida Kahlo painting, while the song itself took its inspiration from Virginia Woolf.
Paul Epworth produced, and the arrangement leans on Tom Moth's harp and Robert Ackroyd's guitar, with Christopher Lloyd Hayden on drums, Mark Saunders on bass, Rusty Bradshaw on keyboards and backing singers including Jessie Ware and Jack Peñate. The video, shot at Abbey Road Studios, just shows the band cutting and singing it. It reached 24 in the UK and gave them their second entry on the Billboard Hot 100.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 11 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2011 | 91 |
| 2011 | 49 | CD101 Columbus, OH | CD101 Top 102 Songs of 2011 | 102 |
| 2011 | 56 | 90.5 WERG Erie, PA | WERG Top 90 of 2011 | 90 |
| 2011 | 84 | 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY | WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2011 | 107 |
| 2011 | 88 | KJEE 92.9 Santa Barbara, CA | KJEE Top 92 Songs of 2011 | 92 |
| 2011 | 43 | KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA | KSLG Top 94 Slugtracks of 2011 | 94 |
| 2011 | 42 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2011 | 100 |
| 2011 | 56 | WBRU Providence, RI | WBRU Top 95.5 Songs of 2011 | 96 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1931 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 1354 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2016 | 880 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2022 | 1086 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022 | 603 |
Also listed as: What The Water Gave Me.
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