"New Orleans Is Sinking" by the Tragically Hip: Songs for New Orleans

[norml]

"New Orleans Is Sinking"

Bourbon blues on the street loose and complete
Under skies all smoky blue-green
I can Forksake the dixie dead shake
So we dance the sidewalk clean
My memory is muddy what's this river I'm in
New Orleans is sinking and I don't want to swim

Colonel Tom What's wrong? What's Going On
You can't tie yourself up for a deal
He said" Hey North you're south shut you big mouth
You gotta do what you feel is real."
Ain't got no picture postcards ain't go no souvenirs
My baby she don't know me when I'm thinking about those years

Pale as a light bulb hanging on a wire
Sucking up to someone just stoke the fire
Picking out the highlights of the scenery
Saw a little cloud looked a little like me

I had My hand in the river
My feet back up on the banks
Looked up to the lord above and said hey man thanks
Some time I fell so good I gotta scream
She says Gordie baby I know exactly what you mean
She said, she said I swear to god she said

My memory is muddy what's this river I'm in
New Orleans is sinking and I don't want to swim

by the Tragically Hip

[redqueen]

1. The Planet of New Orleans

Standin' on the corner
Of Toulouse and Dauphine
Waitin' on Marie-Ondine
I'm tryin' to place a tune
Under a Louisiana moonbeam
On the planet of New Orleans

In a bar they call The Saturn
And in her eyes of green
And somethin' that she said in a dream
Inside of my suit I got my mojo root
And a true love figurine
For the planet of New Orleans

New Orleans - the other planet
With other life upon it
And everythin' that's shakin' in between
If you should ever land upon it
You better know what's on it
The planet of New Orleans

Now I'm tryin' to find my way
Through the rain and the steam
I'm lookin' straight ahead through the screen
And then I heard her say
Somethin' in the Limousine
'Bout takin' a ride across the planet of New Orleans

If she was an ace
And I was just a jack
And the cards were never seen
We could have been the king and queen
But she took me back to her courtyard
Where magnolia perfume screams
Behind the gates and the granite
Of the planet of New Orleans

[jus_the_facts]

2. Walkin' To New Orleans ~ Fats Domino

It's time I'm walkin' to New Orleans
I'm walkin' to New Orleans
I'm going to need two pair of shoes
When I get through walkin' to you
When I get back to New Orleans

I've got my suitcase in my hand
Now, ain't that a shame
I'm leavin' here today
Yes, I'm goin' back home to stay
Yes, I'm walkin' to New Orleans

You used to be my honey
Till you spent all my money
No use for you to cry
I'll see you bye and bye
Cause I'm walkin' to New Orleans

I've got no time for talkin'
I've got to keep on walkin'
New Orleans is my home
That's the reason why I'm goin'
Yes, I'm walkin' to New Orleans

I'm walkin' to New Orleans
I'm walkin' to New Orleans
I'm walkin' to New Orleans

[jus_the_facts]

3. The Battle of New Orleans ~ Johnny Horton

In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans.


We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin' on
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We looked down the river and we see'd the British come.
And there must have been a hundred of'em beatin' on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made the bugles ring.
We stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing.


Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise
If we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked 'em in the eye
We held our fire 'til we see'd their faces well.
Then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave 'em ... well

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.**

We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down.
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.


Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.**

[Dukkha]

4. Bloodletting - Concrete Blonde

There's a crack in the mirror, and a blood stain on the bed
There's a crack in the mirror, and a blood stain on the bed
Oh, you were a vampire and baby, I'm walking dead
Oh, you were a vampire and baby, I'm walking dead

I got the ways and means to New Orleans
I'm going down by the river where it's warm and green
I'm gonna have a drink, and walk around
I got a lot to think about Oh Yeah

There's a rocking chair by the window down the hall
I hear something there in the shadow down the hall
Oh, you were a vampire and now I am nothing at all
Oh, you where a vampire and now I am nothing at all

I got the ways and means to New Orleans
I'm going down by the river where it's warm and green
I'm gonna have a drink, and walk around
I got a lot to think about Oh Yeah

They used to dance in the garden in the middle of the night
Dancing out in the garden in the middle of the night
Oh, you were a vampire and I may never see the light
Oh, you were a vampire and I may never see the light

I got the ways and means to New Orleans
I'm going down by the river where it's warm and green
I'm gonna have a drink, and walk around
I got a lot to think about Oh Yeah

[jus_the_facts]

5. New Orleans Ladies ~ LaRoux

New Orleans ladies
A sassy style that will drive you crazy
And they hold you like the light
Hugs the wick when this candle's burning
Them Creole babies
Thin and brown and downright lazy
And they roll just like a river
A little wade will last forever

All the way
From Bourbon Street to Esplanade
They sashay by...
They sashay by...

New Orleans ladies
A flair for life, love, and laughter
And they hold you like the night
Holds a chill when this cold wind's blowing
Them Creole babies
They strut and sway from dusk til dawn
And they roll just like the river
A little wade will last forever

All the way
From Bourbon Street to Esplanade
They sashay by...
They sashay by...

[jus_the_facts]

6. Basin Street Blues ~ Louis Armstrong

Won't you come and go with me
Down that Mississippi
We'll take a boat to the land of dreams
Come along with me on, down to New Orleans

Now the band's there to greet us
Old friends will meet us
Where all them folks goin to the St. Louis Cemetary meet
Heaven on earth.... they call it Basin Street

I'm tellin' ya, Basin Street...... is the street
Where all them characters from the First street they meet
New Orleans..... land of dreams
you'll never miss them rice and beans
Way down south in New Orleans

They'll be huggin'.... and a kissin'
That's what I been missin'
And all that music....lord, if you just listen'
New Orleans....I got them Basin Street Blues

(instrumental break)

Now ain't you glad you went with me
On down that Mississippi
We took a boat to the land of dreams
Heaven on earth...they call it Basin Street

[myrna minx]

7. I wish I was in New Orleans - Tom Waits

I Wish I Was in New Orleans

Well, I wish I was in New Orleans
I can see it in my dreams
arm-in-arm down Burgundy
a bottle and my friends and me
hoist up a few tall cool ones
play some pool and listen to that
tenor saxophone calling me home
and I can hear the band begin
"When the Saints Go Marching In"
by the whiskers on my chin
New Orleans, I'll be there

I'll drink you under the table
be red nose go for walks
the old haunts what I wants
is red beans and rice
and wear the dress I like so well
and meet me at the old saloon
make sure there's a Dixie moon
New Orleans, I'll be there

and deal the cards roll the dice
if it ain't that ole Chuck E. Weiss
and Clayborn Avenue me and you
Sam Jones and all
and I wish I was in New Orleans
I can see it in my dreams
arm-in-arm down Burgundy
a bottle and my friends and me
New Orleans, I'll be there

[Zomby Woof]

8. Wild Injuns

By the NEVILLE BROTHERS, the ULTIMATE New Orleans band.

And all those great zydeco musicians too...

And don't forget Dr. John. Or the Marsalis clan.

[KamaAina]

9. "New Orleans Strut": Jack DeJohnette.

it's a jazz instrumental, and oddly enough, despite being a jazzman named "DeJohnette", he's from Rochesater or someplace.

[peekaloo]

10. Louisiana 1927 by Randy Newman. Appropriate.

"they're trying to wash us away". :-(

[noonwitch]

11. Moon Over Bourbon Street by Sting

I unfortunately don't have access to the lyrics at the moment, but it is dedicated to Anne Rice and is a song about a vampire.

[Kat45]

12. The City of New Orleans

[northzax]

13. New Orleans- Grateful Dead

New Orleans

Well, come on everybody take a trip with me
Down the Mississippi, down to New Orleans
They got the honeysuckle blaming on the honeysuckle vine
And love is blaming there all the time
They got the French boys swinging from a big old tree
Down the Mississippi, down in New Orleans

Well, come on take a stroll down on Basin Street
And listen to the music and the Dixieland beat
Oh, Magnolia blossom fills the air
And you ain't been to heaven if you ain't been there
Every Southern Belle is a Mississippi Queen
Down the Mississippi, down in New Orleans

[ghostsofgiants]

14. I've had that song in my head since yesterday

Good song. I love The Hip.