Hello friends, Samm Bennett here. As I write these words on August 29, 2015, it is ten years since the devastating hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. Hundreds died there in that wonderful city, and thousands more suffered greatly In the aftermath. Days after the hurricane, when it became apparent how hideously ineffectual and wrongheaded the official government response to the disaster really was, I wrote this song. I was outraged then, and I'm still angry about it now. I decided to return to the song last year, 2014, and re-record it, in a wholly different version than the one I first recorded in 2005. I'm posting both the newer version and the original here. Thanks for listening.
New Orleans 2005see the black man down in New Orleans
waist deep in the flood waters wading gunfire crackles in the distance the last glimmer of daylight is fading he didn't have much to begin with now his world has come all unglued he's on his way to bust into a grocery store to get his family water and food New Orleans New Orleans 2005 now see the president way up in his airplane he says zero tolerance for looters one thing this president really knows how to do is to send in the guns and the shooters but less bullets more boats beds and blankets and no telling how many lives he might save ah but blaming the victim is what some folks do best here in the home of the brave New Orleans New Orleans 2005 they say the president loves all americans no matter the color or creed but you decide for yourself where the real truth resides is it found in the word or the deed if you say you don't think that it's racist maybe this'll cut through that dull mental haze just try and imagine a whole stadium full of white people left to fend for themselves for six days well i don't think it would've happened quite that way New Orleans New Orleans 2005 now if there's good that can come from this tragedy it's that maybe things'll get rearranged lord knows over in Washington D.C. we're long overdue for regime change one hundred eighty six million dollars they spend on the war in Iraq every day with just a fraction of that they could've shored up those levees and kept the floodwaters at bay New Orleans New Orleans 2005 Copyright 2005 and 2014 Samm Bennett - All Rights Reserved back to Lyrics Table of Contents |
2014 Recording (with 3-string guitar accompaniment)2005 Recording (with drone accompaniment) |