Saint Rita's Nursery Blues
"adapted" on September 25, 2005 by steve waterman
Sung to the tune of Bye Bye Miss Americam Pie by Don Mclean
Just a little while ago, I can still remember how that movement used to make me smile
and I knew if I had my plan that I could make them understand and maybe they'd be happy for a while
but mid-September saw Katrina's river
with every ration not delivered
no news on the door step, no-one took one more step
I just remember that I cried
when media showed the deaths outside
and something hurt us deep inside, the day, our movement, died. So...
CHORUS
Bye, bye Big Easy Pie
the waters got too heavy to let the levees stay dry
and them good ol' boys were thinkin risky and sly
thinkin this may be the day that some die, this may be the day that some die.
Did you write the book of love and do you have faith in Saints above, if the music tells you so
and do you believe in rhythm and blues, can movement save your mortal views and can you reach me and why are you so slow?
well I hope that you'll get here before then
cuz I saw you hangin-on on the I -10
you'll lost your shoes and we don't dig what they did to you
you were alone and out of luck
with your empty tanks in your pick-up trucks
but I hoped that you weren't all gonna get stuck, the days, the movement, died. They started singin...
Chorus
Now for so many years they've been on their own and moss grows fast on this New Orleans town but that's not how it used to be
when the joker ran and could not be seen in a vest he'd stolen from Don Mclean and a voice not heard from you nor me
oh and while the rescuers were looking down
the joker broke his thorny crown
the courtroom will return, no verdict yet endured
and while Nagin made his own remarks, FEMA practiced in the dark
as the storm surges in the park, the days, the movement, died. But birds were singin...
Chorus
Hellish shelter in a summer swelter the copters flew over that Louisiana delta, seventeenth street levee was fallin fast
the sludge smelt foul with fumes of gas, those squatters tried for some forward cash with the joker passing debit cards to the cast
now the half-time air was not perfume
while lovely Rita played her metered tune
they all got up to leave, oh but they only got deceived
oh as the flooding would take the fields
those feeder bands refused to yield
don't you recall what Max revealed, three days, the movement, thrived. Janice and Jimi were singin...
Chorus
Oh and there we were all in one place, a convention center lost in space with no food left to eat again
so come on, Russ be nimble, Russ be quick, honor shot down each candle stick because water is fire's evil friend
oh and as I watched him on his stage
my mind was clenched inside that cage
this angel came to help, would break Katrina's spell
and as the flames climbed high into the night
as if to light an honorary sight
I saw no one laughing, just some in fright, the days, the movement, died. They saints marched in singin...
Chorus
I met a girl with winds cat five and I asked her please to let our Big Easy survive but she just smiled and turned ashore
so I went down to that vacant shore to see stocks of wood from years before but the people there said the movement wouldn't stay and in flooded streets their children screamed
the mothers cried as their pets still dreamed
but just some words was spoken, Chertoff still ain't smoken
and the three that I admire best
the fathers, sons, and that whole lot left
who caught them buses headed-on west, the days, the movement, died, and now in Houston singin...
Bye, bye Big Easy Pie
the waters got too heavy to let the levees stay dry
and them good ol' boys were thinkin risky and sly
with some thinkin, this may be the day that I die, this may be the day that I die.
[ extra verse and chorus ]
The phoenix rises and levees too, as massive aid eventually gets through, Rita only passes by
ward nine returns and revolution too as John imagined and Paul knew, its love that is all you need
just take a listen to the Platters
any Motown artist for that matter
music never dies, its wings forever fly
now's the time for Saints to shine
and let this March begin to climb
and overwhelm that space in time
those days, the movement, died. They Marched in singin...
Rise now Big Easy Pie
the waters have receded now the levees are dry
and them good ol' buoys are now all in line
singin this will be our way to revive, this will be our day to survive.
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