Way back in 2011 when this blog began,
one of the first features was about the crawfish boil and its accompanying CD.
Well, we’ve decided to revive this idea for the upcoming release of the CD of
the 6th Annual DGA Crawfish Boil. This CD, titled High Water Friends, features songs from
boil staple Davis Rogan and Warren Prejean and the Zydeco Rhythm and Blues Band.
For more information about that crawfish boil, revisit our posts, here
and here.
As we did in the past, we’ll handle each song a post at a time, beginning with
Davis Rogan’s The New Ninth Ward.
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| The Ninth Ward After Katrina |
When
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the Ninth Ward absorbed some of the
worst damage the storm had to offer. The storm surge overwhelmed the levees in
multiple places, leaving the entire ward and most of the city under water. The
water not only destroyed many homes, but swept them right off their
foundations. The surge was so powerful that a two hundred foot barge tied up
along the Industrial Canal broke free from its moorings. It eventually settled
on top of several destroyed homes (a Federal Judge later ruled that the company
was not responsible for any barge-related damage). Meanwhile, around Louisiana
and the world images of destruction from the Ninth Ward revealed the horrifying
extent of the damage.
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The Barge in the Ninth Ward. Times-Picayune.
|
Recovery
has come slowly to the Lower Ninth. As state and federal officials bungled the
initial recovery efforts, the residents of the Ninth Ward, mostly poor and
African American remained homeless. Without the resources to return home, the
population scattered across the United States. Reconstruction proceeded at a
snail’s pace. FEMA restricted access to
the area for nearly a year after the storm. Residents of the Ward and outside
charities, like Brad Pitt’s Make it Right Foundation, have rebuilt some parts
of the Ninth, but other areas remain desolate. The population has shrunk from
14,000 before the storm to only 3,000 according to the latest census. Ineffective
management, the slow recovery, and the impoverished nature of the residents led
many in the aftermath of the storm to question the usefulness of reconstructing
the Ninth at all. These views, propagated by incompetent government officials
and other white non-residents of the Ninth Ward, carried a strong racial
connotation—white businessmen and politicians denying help and homes to poor
African Americans.
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| Times-Picayune Graphic of the Storm Damage |
Davis
Rogan’s The New Ninth Ward savagely
satirizes this mentality. He first targets his ire at leading members of the Bush
administration, especially FEMA director Michael Brown—best known for heading
the International Arabian Horse Association. Rogan lampoons the idea that New
Orleans’s social and political issues can be solved by traffic cameras and
schools. The paternalism of outsiders who sought to remake New Orleans into a
cleaner and therefore better city also warrants scorn: “And every day we pray
they would do less misbehavin’/ So they’d deserve all this saving.” As if the
behavior of New Orleanians should have any impact on helping them have places
to live. Finally, Rogan identifies the true desire of those seeking to
transform the city into something respectable. By locking up criminals, planting
vegetable gardens, and rebuilding the ward, Rogan argues that “This time around
we’re making it white.” Rogan’s lyrics and music cut to the core of the issue, lambasting
the idea that gentrification will solve all of New Orleans’s problems.
The New Ninth Ward
I’ll meet you on Dick Cheney
Street, at Rumsfeld Boulevard
Right next to the statue of
Michael Brown
In the new ninth ward
Folks are living so easy there,
times used to be so hard
Chicken in every pot, oh, and
they dance a lot
In the new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
Times are easy there, they used
to be so hard
Well we kicked out all the
criminals
Got rid of the blight
Put a little camera on the
traffic light
The kids they come to school,
they come to learn and not fight
This time around we’re making
it right
In the new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
These lovely little musicians,
got them a place to stay
Even set them up a concert hall
so they have a place to play
New construction, state of the
art, nothing could be finer
All the modern conveniences and
the best dry wall from China
In the new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
Times are easy there, they used
to be so hard
Musicians in one area, yeah
that’s what’s up
In one place just in case we
need to round them up
We think it’s best to know
where they all stay at night
This time around we’re making
it right
In the new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
SOLO
Yeah, the new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
Times are easy there, they used
to be so hard
We’re taking up the burden, we
are the ones
Who came to save New Orleans
from New Orlenians
And every day we pray they
would do less misbehavin’
So they’d deserve all this
saving
Sister Bessie used to drink a
lot, on her porch all day
Now we set her up a vegetable
plot, ain’t that some productivity
And Brother John he’s got that
ice cream truck
Such an enterprising little
fellah, selling cones in the working zones
Where he moves a lot of vanilla
In the new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
The new ninth ward
Times are easy there, they used
to be so hard
Well we kicked out all the
criminals
Got rid of the blight
It works a little better now we
made it uptight
And best of all it’s safe to
walk the streets at night
This time around we’re making
it white
