Dana Lyons Sweet New Orleans
No one saw it coming
No one could foresee
No one saw the pattern
No one paid the fee
No one pushed the button
And on one made the call
No one fixed the levies
And no one saw them fall
My father played the guitar
And Grandfather played the sax
I wish I'd grabbed their instruments
But I had to find the ax
We were stuck inside the attic
With the water's steady rise
I smashed a hole out through the shingles
But my neighbors lost their lives
And underneath a wall of water
Atlantis came to be
The accordions were silenced
Pianos buried in debris
When a city's like a lover
Leaves my broken heart and me
Will I know you when I see you
Sweet New Orleans
In the convention center
My Grandmother and me
The smell was overpowering
She rested on the seats
We knew they'd come to help us
The water and the food
The medicine she needed
We knew that they'd come soon
And underneath a wall of water
Atlantis came to be
The accordions were silenced
Pianos buried in debris
When a city's like a lover
Leaves my broken heart and me
Will I know you when I see you
Sweet New Orleans
No one saw it coming
No one could foresee
The great storm generations
The mega-weather centuries
On the lakeshores of Algonquin
The elders tell their kin
The prophecy of hurricanes
Seven times the strongest wind
And underneath a wall of water
Atlantis came to be
The accordions were silenced
Pianos buried in debris
When a city's like a lover
Leaves my broken heart and me
Will I know you when I see you
Sweet New Orleans
Sweet New Orleans
Will I know you
Sweet New Orleans
Sweet New Orleans
