Through the Waters - MP3


See now here is a tale of sorrow and pity
Consider the following scenes
Hear tell of the suffering throes of a city
The tragedy that would befall New Orleans

A storm came from the sea
And as it drew close we knew what was to be
We were told don’t delay
You must prepare your city for just such a day

Emergency said you must leave New Orleans
Katrina is well on its way
If you have no wheels to flee from your home
We’ve got plans to take you from the Superdome

And the poor and the old
Who could not leave the city did what they were told
They knew help was at hand
All they had to do was just follow the plan

Katrina the Terrible circled our city
Like a raging Banshee from hell
The citizens huddled that terrible night
Not knowing the city dykes weren’t built that well

The water was high but did not top the dykes
And our walls should have held
But whatever the the cause
The dykes did not stand up to physical laws

We thought they’d be with us in this hour of need
But FEMA was no help at all
They blocked the supplies from entering the city
Where was simply commotion and Brownian motion

We were not prepared
There were simply not enough people who cared
And whatever the truth
We were prying out holes just to get on the roof

The president said that the looting must stop
The cops on the street cried obey
You cannot lift sustenance from flooded shops
You have to wait ‘till we get out of your way

It was shoot to kill
But our babies were starving our elders were ill
And we braved flooded streets
Through the waters we moved looking for things to eat

An overworked man from Jefferson Parish
He broke down on national TV
Said “Somebody’s coming to get you on Monday
Somebody’s coming to get you on Tuesday
Somebody’s coming to get you on Wednesday
Somebody’s coming to get you on Thursday
Somebody’s coming to get you on Friday….”

Orange juice arrived
At the Superdome we were more dead than alive
Not by convoy or truck,
Just a car and two citizens who had some luck

When the New Orleans refugees came through the waters
They bellowed from Gretna "Go back!"
There's property here that shall not disappear
And we don't care a hoot what you do or don't lack

And what did get saved
Was by ordinary folks rescuing day to day
When the cavalry came
It was really too late, only rescue in name

And when on TV we saw all of those poor
We thought it would open our eyes
Without home without hope at the big Superdome
Will we once more succumb to your media lies?

And the poor and the old
Who could not leave the city did what they were told
They knew help was at hand
All they had to do was just follow the plan

 

Stephen Goodfellow 2005

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