In double-ought five there was a little storm The likes of which the crescent city'd never seen before The mayor saw it comin and the president did too But nobody was ready for how hard Katrina blew
We asked for help and the FEMA said "it's coming" We ain't seen any rescue though that was a week ago. We asked for help and nobody came a-runnin And now the levee's broken and we got nowhere to go...
I went to Johnny White's after walking down the street Ordered me a whiskey and said to make it neat They said that they would stay, long as the drinks would last 'Til the feds dropped on by with some of their tear gas
They said to all of them, you better go and git But the regulars went outside just to drink and sit Ol' Hurricane Katrina didn't tear us down There ain't no way the feds will run us out of town
We asked for help and the FEMA said "it's coming" We ain't seen any rescue though that was a week ago. We asked for help and nobody came a-runnin And now the levee's broken and we got nowhere to go...
we fired our guns but the looters kept a comin' Bush don't look as happy as he did awhile ago The folks at the Superdome are gettin' raped and they're wond'rin' Why the fuck the Guv'mint caint run a honest show
People climbed into attics as the waters rose wondrin why the local govment and the president froze Mama's kept strugglin to lift their babies higher While a quarter of the city slowly caught fire
Well they drank their burboun til' the winds all barrelled down Then they raised up their glasses and they drank another round. Got loaded up and watched it til' the storm had passed behind, But when the water started up New Orleans lost its mind.
*bows* And after a bit more thought (doesn't scan quite as well I think but I like it):
Ol' Shrub'ry said "Well it took us by surprise!" And continued to keep screw'n' 'em while he looked them in the eyes. His mother said nothing 'til she heard their tales to tell, Then she smiled at them and said that "it's really working well!"
The Battle of New Orleans, oh it's quite a song to sing. The city took a beating and the Feds didn't do a thing. I'm reminded of old Nero who was fiddlin' far from Rome. I wonder what dear Bush would do if NOLA was his home?
There was lootin' in the city, there was lootin' up and down, You were said to be a looter if your skin was coloured brown, But if you were a white man, then there's no need to fear, Cause the papers said you found the goods a lyin' over here...
we ran to the bridges and we ran to the shelters then we ran to the places where the cops wouldn't go we hid from the feds and we hid from the crack heads we really wish that someone could tell us where to go.
They got their warnin' A hurricane was coming, But then they stopped the buses And there wasn't any train, They said "Get out", But you'll have to do it running, So start a-moving chillun, and outrace the wind and rain.
We looked down the levee and we see the water rise, and then the power go out which wasn't really a suprise, The rich moved fast and they made it from the town, So the government just sat there and they left the poor to drown.
We asked for help and the FEMA said "it's coming" We ain't seen any rescue though that was a week ago. We asked for help and nobody came a-runnin And now the levee's broken and we got nowhere to go...
We ran to the roofs, and we ran to the high ground, and we ran to the Superdome, Where they told us to go. But there's no food here and there isn't any safety. And three days without water Will lay anybody low.
We asked for help and the FEMA said "it's coming" We ain't seen any rescue though that was a week ago. We asked for help and nobody came a-runnin And now the levee's broken and we got nowhere to go...
Bush said "What a pity, that it took us by surprise!" Now how these people gonna to look The whole world in the eyes? Though they may say, That it's no good laying blame, There's those who think the politicians Shoulda died of shame!
We asked for help and the FEMA said "it's coming" We ain't seen any rescue though that was a week ago. We asked for help and nobody came a-runnin And now the levee's broken and we got nowhere to go...
WE LIVED AND DIED (tune: the IWW protest song WE HAVE FED YOU ALL as recorded on the Leslie Fish album IT'S SISTER JENNY'S TURN TO DROP THE BOMB - or it also works to the Irish song YOUNG RODDY McCORLEY'S GOING TO DIE)
We lived and died by the waterside For year on famous year - And our realm felt sure that we would endure, That the flood we need not fear. For our walls ill-made there came no aid, And ourselves we would not pay - Let flood be the cost of a city lost when the storm-wind came our way!
No levees around a city's ground Can yet restrain the sky - No child of all the children drowned Cannot have wondered why - We can smell our dead in the riverbed, In the silt where the houses stood - Let mud be the cost of a city lost, for it drowned the common good!
We knew that water flows downhill, For we lived by the waterside, But that the water's flow might fill The bottom, we denied: Thus we sold our lives - men, children, wives - And we called the bargain fair: Let blood be the cost of a city lost, for in blood we've paid our share!
these are really rilly good verses--I'm tattling'. I'm crossposting over to filkertom, who oughta see this stuff. kierthos and company, meet filkertom (if you don't know him already, that is, I beg your pardon!) BTW, you might enjoy the billboard link in this particular post of his. http://www.livejournal.com/users/filkertom/231958.html?mode=reply
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
What I wonder...
no subject
The likes of which the crescent city'd never seen before
The mayor saw it comin and the president did too
But nobody was ready for how hard Katrina blew
We asked for help and the FEMA said "it's coming"
We ain't seen any rescue though that was a week ago.
We asked for help and nobody came a-runnin
And now the levee's broken and we got nowhere to go...
Anyone wanna add on some extra verses?
no subject
Ordered me a whiskey and said to make it neat
They said that they would stay, long as the drinks would last
'Til the feds dropped on by with some of their tear gas
They said to all of them, you better go and git
But the regulars went outside just to drink and sit
Ol' Hurricane Katrina didn't tear us down
There ain't no way the feds will run us out of town
We asked for help and the FEMA said "it's coming"
We ain't seen any rescue though that was a week ago.
We asked for help and nobody came a-runnin
And now the levee's broken and we got nowhere to go...
no subject
Bush don't look as happy as he did awhile ago
The folks at the Superdome are gettin' raped and they're wond'rin'
Why the fuck the Guv'mint caint run a honest show
no subject
wondrin why the local govment and the president froze
Mama's kept strugglin to lift their babies higher
While a quarter of the city slowly caught fire
:)
You've missed your calling.
no subject
Then they raised up their glasses and they drank another round.
Got loaded up and watched it til' the storm had passed behind,
But when the water started up New Orleans lost its mind.
no subject
no subject
Ol' Shrub'ry said "Well it took us by surprise!"
And continued to keep screw'n' 'em while he looked them in the eyes.
His mother said nothing 'til she heard their tales to tell,
Then she smiled at them and said that "it's really working well!"
Best yet
no subject
That's freaky.
no subject
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The city took a beating and the Feds didn't do a thing.
I'm reminded of old Nero who was fiddlin' far from Rome.
I wonder what dear Bush would do if NOLA was his home?
--M
no subject
and it rose in the evening
and it rose in the houses while we begged for Michael Brown;
And we heard, "Hang on, we'll be there any second";
Right up 'til the moment when it came for us to drown.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
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You were said to be a looter if your skin was coloured brown,
But if you were a white man, then there's no need to fear,
Cause the papers said you found the goods a lyin' over here...
no subject
and we ran to the shelters
then we ran to the places where the cops wouldn't go
we hid from the feds and we hid from the crack heads
we really wish that someone could tell us where to go.
no subject
A hurricane was coming,
But then they stopped the buses
And there wasn't any train,
They said "Get out",
But you'll have to do it running,
So start a-moving chillun,
and outrace the wind and rain.
We looked down the levee
and we see the water rise,
and then the power go out
which wasn't really a suprise,
The rich moved fast
and they made it from the town,
So the government just sat there
and they left the poor to drown.
We asked for help and the FEMA said "it's coming"
We ain't seen any rescue though that was a week ago.
We asked for help and nobody came a-runnin
And now the levee's broken and we got nowhere to go...
We ran to the roofs,
and we ran to the high ground,
and we ran to the Superdome,
Where they told us to go.
But there's no food here
and there isn't any safety.
And three days without water
Will lay anybody low.
We asked for help and the FEMA said "it's coming"
We ain't seen any rescue though that was a week ago.
We asked for help and nobody came a-runnin
And now the levee's broken and we got nowhere to go...
Bush said "What a pity,
that it took us by surprise!"
Now how these people gonna to look
The whole world in the eyes?
Though they may say,
That it's no good laying blame,
There's those who think
the politicians
Shoulda died of shame!
We asked for help and the FEMA said "it's coming"
We ain't seen any rescue though that was a week ago.
We asked for help and nobody came a-runnin
And now the levee's broken and we got nowhere to go...
my own New Orleans song
(tune: the IWW protest song WE HAVE FED YOU ALL as recorded on the Leslie Fish album IT'S SISTER JENNY'S TURN TO DROP THE BOMB - or it also works to the Irish song YOUNG RODDY McCORLEY'S GOING TO DIE)
We lived and died by the waterside
For year on famous year -
And our realm felt sure that we would endure,
That the flood we need not fear.
For our walls ill-made there came no aid,
And ourselves we would not pay -
Let flood be the cost of a city lost when the storm-wind came our way!
No levees around a city's ground
Can yet restrain the sky -
No child of all the children drowned
Cannot have wondered why -
We can smell our dead in the riverbed,
In the silt where the houses stood -
Let mud be the cost of a city lost, for it drowned the common good!
We knew that water flows downhill,
For we lived by the waterside,
But that the water's flow might fill
The bottom, we denied:
Thus we sold our lives - men, children, wives -
And we called the bargain fair:
Let blood be the cost of a city lost, for in blood we've paid our share!
thank you!
I'm crossposting over to
kierthos and company, meet filkertom (if you don't know him already, that is, I beg your pardon!)
BTW, you might enjoy the billboard link in this particular post of his.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/filkertom/231958.html?mode=reply