People of New Orleans (with apologies & credit to Goodman, Guthrie et al)

[politicat]

to the tune of: The City of New Orleans, by Steven Goodman; covered by Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson, John Denver, Judy Collins, River City Ramblers, among others. *

Slow folk beat; 80% of Guthrie's tempo.


Living in the City of New Orleans,
holdin' out, Monday dawns near gale.
TV folk said move on out of Easy,
But that was before the lights began to fail.
All though the day of wind and rain
the hope is all that keeps you sane
That when its done things'll be the same.
There was no choice 'bout why we stayed today,
the dogs and kids and sick old men,
and no gas for the rusted automobiles.

CHORUS:
Good morning America! Where are you?
Don't you know me we're Americans!
We're the people called The City of New Orleans,
We'll be changed forever more when this day is done.

As night falls on the city of New Orleans,
FEMA shrugs, says "I ain't keepin' score."
Hunkered down in a football stadium shelter,
Those old and sick, the kids and black and poor.
While the lake drowns the 9th Ward
the levees spill over St. Tammany
And Hope breaks down into Calamity
Mothers with their babes asleep
Rocking in their stadium seats
And the terror in the Dome is all they feel.

Good morning America how are you?
Say, Don't you know us, we're Americans?
We're the people called The City of New Orleans,
We'll remember forever more when this day is done.

Dawn breaks on the City of New Orleans.
We climb the roof and wait in th' morning sun.
Pres'dent cut levee money from us.
Guard's overseas, water's gone and
FEMA stocked up on guns.
All over town, the people seem
Unable to wake from this bad dream
And the President still don't care about the news.
Preachers call our poverty a sin
but this sin belongs to rich white men
Who don't care we got the Katrina abandonment blues.

And goodnight, Mr. President, Where were you?
Say, Don't you know us, We're Americans!
We're the people of the City of New Orleans
And we'll remember who ignored us when this day is done.


*Disclaimer: No harm is intended to original authors or performers, and song is used for parody purposes to criticize the government, not the authors or performers. Further, original author is credited under fair use provision of copyright in accordance with Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. This verse is not intended for commercial or for-profit performance, nor to infringe upon the original published and produced verses, nor on sales of the original. All copyright belongs to the estate of Steven Goodman.