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Subject: Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion on Walker Percy

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  • From: "Ken Wilson" <kfw AT ntelos.net>
  • To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [percy-l] hurricanes
  • Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 15:44:12 -0400

Karl M. Terrell wrote:
I'll just weigh in, amid the charged debate, with a little musical
relief, and recommend all take a listen to Randy Newman's beautiful,
mournful song about the 1927 flood, "Louisianna 1927." The flood, the
water and the wind (from the "north") are evoked, especially in the
chorus, as a metaphor for changes forcing the loss of the past. The
song ends with a little bittersweet humor. Here are some of the lyrics:

"What's happened down here is the wind have changed/
Clouds rolled in from the north and it started to rain/
////
The river rose all day, the river rose all night/
Some people got lost in the flood, some people got away all right/
////
The river have busted through clear down to Plaquemines/
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline.

Chorus:

Louisianna, Louisianna/
They're tryin' to wash us away/
They're tryin' to wash us away.
/////

President Coolidge came down on a railroad train/
Had a little fat man with a notepad in his hand/
President said, "Little fat man, ain't it a shame/
What the water has done/
To this poor cracker's land."

Thanks, Karl. Aaron Neville sang this song beautifully on last night's NBC/CNBC/MSNBC telethon,and I'm guessing that the latter will keep replaying it.

Ken





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