There are times that I really dread trying to come up with the music posts. Taste in music is so subjective and you guys can be really brutal in letting us know what you think.
But after I read SilentPatriot's post on Katrina, I knew exactly what song to feature.
Here's the birthday boy, Aaron Neville, singing Randy Newman's Louisiana 1927
From the notes of the YouTube video:
"Louisiana 1927", written by Randy Newman, is sung by Aaron Neville in this video. The song is about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 when the levees had to be dynamited in order to prevent further flooding in New Orleans.
What has happened down here is the wind have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain
Rained real hard and rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of EvangelineThe 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 cleard down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangelne
CHORUS
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 awayPresident 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."
CHORUS
Stu Miller SDMA (StonewallStudios Director of Music Acquisitions), sourced the sound track and wrote Katrina video liner notes for us:
"Aaron Neville now lives in Brentwood, TN, a suburb about 5 minutes from me. He moved here after Katrina swamped his house and those of 3 of his brothers and sisters. Aaron made a recording of a song called "Louisiana 1927" about the flood that happened where when they actually DID blow up the levees and let the water out. The difference is that then, the area that was flooded was primarily white."