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about

I wrote this one in New York, shortly after Hurricane Katrina. It was hard to explain New Orleans to New Yorkers and I thought Oscar's story helped. He was a roofing contractor who I worked with on various jobs in New Orleans. He told me of his escape from Hurricane Betsy, while resting a lawn mover on a hot New Orleans afternoon.

I entered the song in a contest a couple years back and came up empty handed. Tommy Barnes, who has written for Tim McGraw and Hank Williams Jr. was the judge. He confronted me after ward. "I'm mad at yo, because you made two great songs into one. I want to hear them both!"

lyrics

Intro. Buried in the fog, Fourteen feet below the sea,
Warm air like a blanket, Surrounds and comforts me,
No past, No future, Just a moment in the mist,
Tree roots crack the sidewalk, but they hold on to the bricks,
In the middle of the ocean, where the land is still in motion
Where did all my good friends go?
Where the currents of the Midwest meet the Gulf of Mexico,
and The River Meets The Mister Go

A. Oscar was a roofer, Living down in New Orleans,
Buckets full of gravel, Balanced high up on a beam,
He wore cheapo boat shoes, So his feet could feel to grip,
It'd be the first time if he stumbled, And the last time if he tripped.

A. He grew up in the Ninth Ward, 'till old Betsey washed him out,
Found himself in Arkansas, Pickin' berries, down and out,
Surviving on hope, He had his mind set on a dream,
Saving up his money and movin' back to New Orleans.

B. It’s a city built on levees,
It's a city built on dreams,
It's a city full of people that I know,
Where the trannies turn their tricks,
All the children clank drum sticks,
And the sound of trumpets pierce the air,

C. New Orleans is a wave, it's just movin' awfully slow,
You can see it in the angles of the poles,
And it juts out in the ocean where it meets and the Gulf Stream,
And the river meets the Mister Go.

In the middle of the ocean,
Where the land is still in motion,
Where did all my good friends go?
Where the currents from the midwest meet the Gulf on Mexico
and the river meets the Mister Go.
B. C.

Here's a verse I added to later versions of the song:

Oscar never knew what another day would bring
He just lay down a shingle, and try make that hammer sing
He rose early in the morning, worked till late at night
Stayin' high up on the rooftops seemed to keep him out of fights

credits

from Egyptland, released August 1, 2009

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Ted Hefko and The Thousandaires image

Ted Hefko and The Thousandaires New Orleans, Louisiana

Ted Hefko & The Thousandaires stir up an intoxicating brew of the profound and the profane, of virtue and vice and most importantly the volatile in-between. Ted’s songs explore hope and hustlers, saints and strays, drifters and the down-and-out. The band brings these stories to life with the spontaneity of jazz, and the rough-hewn, bare-bones tone of backwoods rhythm and bllues. ... more

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