Watching a culture and possibly a city drown is so unbelievably overwhelming sad that I sit in front of the news stupefied at the human loss, economic loss and potential cultural loss.
While it doesn't hold the same emotional bereavement of 9/11, it is emotionally wrenching to think about the ripple effect of this devastation.
I sit in my office in Minneapolis and look out on a magnficient August day. The weather is perfect. It is peaceful and calm here. We have electricity. We have food and we can purchase gasoline.
Our lives are good.
Which brings me to Randy Newman. I am finding solace in his music, his celebration of New Orleans, Louisiana and a way of life that we may not see again... but hopefully will.
"Louisiana 1927"
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through cleard down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangelne
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tyrin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
President Coolidge came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, "Little fat man isn't it a shame what the river has
done
To this poor crackers land."
Randy Newman
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Nancy
Wow - that's spot-on. Guess nothing is new....
2 - mjinks
Louisiana 2005
Rained real hard and rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline
The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through clear’d down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline
President Bush came down in a big ol' jet plane
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, "Little fat man isn't it a shame what the river has
done
To this poor crackers land."
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tyrin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
With respects to Randy Newman
3 - Andy
I have been thinking of this song all week while watching with horror the people and city of New Orleans.
Randy Newman's song is a perfect retrospective of the conditions in the big easy. Along with him, maybe only a few can understand the cultural scar that this will leave on this nation. For this I am sad and disapointed that nothing since the aftermath of the 1927 flood had been done to protect this beautiful city, a city of undesernible charm and character. Thanks for your blog.
4 - Roger Sweeny
Andy,
Since 1927, billions of dollars have been spent on scores of miles of levees to protect New Orleans from the waters of Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. Don't let your grief blind you to the facts.
New Orleans is an unusual place geographically. Most of it is drained swampland and below sea level, nestled between two bodies of water that are above sea level. It requires breathtakingly large and complex protection (e.g. every time it rains, a system of pumps turns on to artificially move the water from the below-sea-level city.).
5 - jk
Re: Lousiana 1927
Don't know if you all realized this, but Aaron Neville sang this song for the NBC Katrina relief concert that broadcast Friday night.
-jk
6 - Charlotte
Neville's rendition of "Louisiana 1927" was beautiful and poignant.For those willing to listen and pay attention to the lyrics it was also a reminder that indeed it did seem that someone was trying to wash the people of New Orleans away.
7 - threse
FYI, Garrison Keillor's band also performed this song at the Prairie Home Companion taping ad the MN State Fair on Sept. 2. It was an incredibly moving tribute, I don't think there was a dry eye in the crowd.
8 - frank
I've been thinking about Randy's song and Aaron's rendition. Randy rewrite the song to include hurricane Katrina. Let native son Aaron sing it and it will not only become Louisiana's anthem but it could be a slam dunk fundfraiser. Kinda like Elton's rewrite for Princess Dianna.
9 - Jimmy
Just curious, since I missed the NBC show. Did Neville change the line, "What the river has done to this poor cracker's land” to “. . . poor farmer’s land,” as the singers did the following Sunday morning on NPR’s “Prairie Home Companion” show?
10 - Harvey
No. Neville used "cracker's" in his concert version but "farmer's" on his CD cut (on "Warm Your Heart"). Apparently Newman's original says "farmer's," although I haven't it.
11 - Harvey
Should've looked before I wrote! It seems that Randy Newman's original lyric was "crackers" (from his "Good Old Boys" album).
12 - HW Rosenberg
Sadly noted, there's a lot more on the Good Old Boys album that's relevant, including the slavecatcher's chant:
In America there is food to eat.
You won't have to run through the jungle and scuff up your feet.
You'll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree.
It's great to be in America.
13 - R. Gorham
Sorry to correct HW Rosenberg, but the lines he quotes are from "Sail Away," another Randy Newman album. Not to say there is lots of relevant stuff on Good Old Boys, too!
14 - L
One of the sweetest songs ever was. Now so more than ever.
15 - Bruce
You might want to check out this version:
I am a friend and fellow musician to Jay. No one has any idea how this song made it to #2 on the radio in L.A.!
I do know the history.
It was recorded live in 1990 on a VCR in Jay's living room. His wife, Rebecca was under the weather and he performed a mini-concert for her.
I think there are 10 or so more songs on the tape.
I also know that Jay would want this song to generate as much support for the victims of Katrina. He has a BIG heart and is one of the most caring persons I have ever known.
If you want more of Jay, follow the link at the end of this post.
A few years back I had the honor of producing and recording what Jay calls a "record" called Images. No copies this time. You'll find this CD as well as his other "records" on his web site.
The direct link to Louisana 1927 is here
Please spread the word about this recording. It has the potential to bring help and many blessings to the victims of Katrina.
Regards,
Bruce Adams
16 - JCvP
Another take on...
Louisiana 2005
(James van Pelt)
based on
Louisiana 1927
(Randy Newman)
What has happened down there, is Katrina came,
Category Five from the south, and it started to rain
It rained and blew so hard that the levee gave in,
Eight feet of water in the streets of New Orleans.
The lake flowed in for days, the water rose all night,
Some people got lost in the flood, bodies floatin’, such a terrible sight;
Poor folk abandoned in the city, like they couldn’t be seen,
Eight feet of water in the streets of New Orleans.
Louisiana, Louisiana,
They tried to wash you away, they tried to wash you away.
Oh Louisiana, Louisiana,
They tried to wash you away, they tried to wash you away.
President Bush, he flew over in Air Force One,
Came down and hugged a few kids and took off again.
President say "Sorry I’m late, I’ll send help,, you’ll see,”
“Gonna shoot all the looters, this’ll make us all stronger, ain’t it great to be free.”
Louisiana, Louisiana,
They're trying to wash you away, they're trying to wash you away.
New Orleans, Louisiana,
Gonna come back some day, gonna come back some day.
Gonna come back some day, gonna come back some day.
17 - David Roe
This piece was written on I-10, less than 200 miles from The Crescent City September 1, 2005
9th Ward New Orleans #2 by Chris Chandler and David Roe
Louisiana 2005 (1927) David Roe and Randy Newman
What has happened down here is the winds have changed
Katrina roared in from the Gulf and it started to rain
Rained real hard and rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of That Old Town Of Mine
The Levee broke to the left
The levee broke to the right
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
Ponchartrain has busted right down the Canal Street Line
Six feet of water in the streets of That Old Town Of Mine
CHORUS
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
President Bush flew over in a big jet plane
Didn�t stop for a photo op or to shake a hand.
The President say, "They didn�t vote for me or my old man, Still look what the water done to these poor people�s land."
9th Ward New Orleans, the river has always run through you � but never so literally.
She has always been a part of you � but rarely like this. Your 19th century widow�s peaks are all that peak from a river once held temporarily at bay by the hands of man. Now 21st century widows stand on your widow�s peaks once again staring in vein for the horizon to materialize the lost.
But from the lost your culture has always been found.
It is with you � 9th Ward New Orleans the melting pot of America melts.
It is from you OUR culture has sailed in from all directions
From wayfaring sailors seeking the roughest of trade as well as barges filled with amber waves of grain.
Here the wholesome and the whore are changed forever. Wholesale.
Whether watching the tops of tankers crest the hands of man while endlessly rocking on stoops or now on roofs watching the river flow on the streets below. You are Alive.
As we watch your desperate desperados � maybe now we know they have always been there � and that you 9th ward New Orleans, like the lands beyond your levees, have always been armed.
The desperate do desperate things when made more desperate. And you 9th Ward New Orleans have been made the lowest of the low � but like a savior born in the feeding trough of a jack ass � you are the birth of the blues.
America does not understand that you can not feel the joy of song with out the blue note of pain. And it is pain you have felt. So who can blame you when you never do say �good Morning America how are you?�
I don�t think America never asked you.
9th Ward New Orleans it is you that is alive.
And yes, Lake Ponchartrain once again had it�s evil wicked way with you and you will bare its pain for a coons age and a slow painful birth will come as a distant trumpet joins your blues.
And when the world asks what is that sound a Caribbean accent will answer it�s just music. It�s Jas Music � yes, it is Jazz music. Your water will break and a new Louis Armstrong will spring from your loins to blow his trumpet with the mouth of your river � and that music � 9th ward new Orleans, will turn the gulf of Texaco into the sea of Galilee.
CDBaby is doing a promo. ALL proceeds from Angel of New Orleans are going to the Red Cross.
Check out their list of all artists who are giving 100 %
So, buy a CD.
And pray for the City Care Forgot.
DR
18 - David Roe
You can hear the piece here
19 - jennifer
I want to put simply my personal feelings for such a travesty and feeling of such significant loss. The night New Orleans drowned was a historical event and one of immense magnitude. I sincerely feel that most North Americans dont consider it to be as deafening emotionally as 9/11. How can that be? New Orleans was there, with a monumentally historical background to the beginning of both of our nations, Canada and the U.S., long before the trade towers were erected. We have ALL lost a part of our heritage, our history, our early development of our cultural clashes. How can that be any less devastating than 9/11. New Orleans will never be the same. The ones who lost their lives did so because of the love of their community and their livlihood. Wouldnt we all want to protect our homes, family and personal gains? Of course we would. How dare ANYONE criticize or berate any one person for wanting to remain in their home. Now its all gone. The drowning of New Orleans didnt just suffocate the life out of the city but it desicrated an entire era, destroyed legendary habitats and blew out the life of the party.
Those mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, brothers, sisters and yes, pets, will never ever go back to being their normal selves but once again will have to learn to adapt while the rest of us go on about our daily routines.
The drowning of New Orleans.......what a way to awaken a continent.
Destructively,
Katrina
20 - chuckie
You all have had some cute things to say, taking off on "Louisiana 1927", and trading "President Bush" for "President Coolidge." But I think of still other songs on that album, talking about the corrupt 'populist' Democratic governor, Kathleen Blanc-er- Huey P. Long, and all of the poor dumb racist geeks and freaks of the area. "Kingfish," "Birmingham," "Wedding in Cherokee County"... You get the idea. Or you should.
You see, Randy Newman covered it all-the local ineptitude and incompetence along with any national indifference. You can all smugly decide that you've got President Bush nailed on this one; maybe even Randy Newman, sitting at home in with his Oscar in BelAir or Malibu, will join you in today's partisanship. But I think he got it right on his own the first time. If you listen to the WHOLE album.
21 - Anon
"Just curious, since I missed the NBC show. Did Neville change the line, "What the river has done to this poor cracker's land” to “. . . poor farmer’s land,”"
- Actually he (Neville) changed it to:
poor PEOPLE'S land
on his Friday performance on NBC
22 - Hail
Heard Randy Newman on NPR this morning. The interview focused on "Louisiana 1927." He was talking about what a unique place New Orleans was (care free, care-less), but that it was not a good place "to get get your car fixed." No doubt he's right.
I guess it is also not a good place to count on competent police work in a crisis, or effective leadership from its city government.
23 - bethiea
I agree with Chuckie above. The great thing about Randy Newman's music and the commentary that it makes on our society is that it has always been very balanced, pointing out the inconsistencies and hypocrisy in EVERYONE, regardless of political leanings, etc. For this reason, his music -although satirical and often downright sarcastic- has a hopefulness about it, implying that since virtually everyone has their failings, there must be some good in most people as well. At least that's the way I read it. Now to get back to the specific topic at hand...I have had his Good Ol' Boys album since I was a teenager, having been introduced to his music by my older brother. I have always gotten chills from listening to Louisiana 1927, and with everything that has happened, its poignancy is almost unbearable.
24 - snufpark
No need to change the words. That's like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa. Would you rewrite Isaiah Chapter 53 (which astoundingly prefigures the sacrifice of Christ) so that it matches every detail of the New Testament account? I've known and loved this song since 1974. It's rolled around in my head a thousand times. Now, more than ever, it belongs to the ages. What a shame that it took a tragedy like Katrina to bring this beautiful song and its' powerful sensibility to the awareness of the masses. Don't bastardize the lyrics, lest we find ourselves musing "Ain't it a same what the cultural Philistines have done to this poor cracker's song?"
25 - Robyn
Tonite(FRIDAY 9/10/05) was the 1st time I had ever heard any version of this song... and all I can say is WOW!!!