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Floating Down the River
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Another poem for New Orleans.
politics marijuana cannabis antiwar political iraq media social struggle israel cuba pirates environment labor afghanistan empire imperialism capitalism terrorism activism bullying bullies ecoterrorism guerrilla gardening irish hunger strike oil leaks oil spills social change
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"If the great Phil Ochs were to rise from the dead today, he would probably be hailed as the new David Rovics." Andy Kershaw, BBC
Song Info
Genre
Acoustic • Acoustic Folk
Charts
Peak #185
Peak in subgenre #23
Author
David Rovics
Rights
bmi all rights reserved 2009
Uploaded
September 18, 2009
Track Files
MP3
MP3 5.8 MB • 320 kbps • 2:32
Story behind the song
Another poem for New Orleans.
Lyrics
There’s an upright piano And the church where it was played I can still hear the fire Of the music that they made These wild priests of Coltrane As high as you could get Now their picture’s in the water With a broken clarinet And the bodies floating down the river   There’s the very heart of harmony A diminished minor chord A demitasse of Cafe du Monde Into which a poet poured From a melior of coffee Freshly brewed and filled I saw his notebook passing by And the coffee that he spilled Along with the bodies floating down the river   There’s a cracked and sunken altar And Jesus on a cross And hanging from a pole The soiled work of Betsy Ross The sidewalk muralist is shouting People can you see All the broken promises Of Lady Liberty With the bodies floating down the river   There’s the ghost of Lincoln Lying in the mud Mother Mary’s playing Zydeco And shedding tears of blood The last vestige of democracy Was just shot for looting bread The levees were all busted Now they’re good as dead Along with the bodies floating down the river   There’s a Hummer driving Down the boulevard There’s Halliburton contractors And the Army National Guard Blackwater Security Ready to attack There’s no food and there’s no doctors And it smells just like Iraq With the bodies floating down the river   The prisons are all empty now The dead men have been cleared They drowned inside their cells When the guards all disappeared But I saw somebody’s uniform As it was passing by Words on it spelled in blood I guess now we’re gonna die And join the bodies floating down the river   Now many months have passed And it all just looks the same So many dead and missing No one knows their names No one to clear the rubble No one to rebuild Some say the city died I say it was killed Along with the bodies floating down the river
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