Lyrics

The Soul of New Orleans
©2005 Lawrence Stewart Maconaghy BMI


I thought you'd last forever
That your heart would always shine
I thought your music would ring out
There'd be no 'Auld Lang Syne'

We had the best of times I thought
And sure, we had some bad
But this tortured thing you're going through
It makes me more than sad

It was only just a week ago before the world had changed
I was singing in Biloxi before it was rearranged
I've seen Mississippi Bayou storms so big they give them names
But I never thought that I'd see such a scene
God have mercy on the soul of New Orleans

They told us it was coming, but how could we comprehend
The fury and the power and the wrath that was to end
A chapter in the life of such a city, such a gem
But we'll be strong, and we'll hang on, and build it back again

It breaks my heart to see so many people have to leave
Their lives, their homes, their friends, but in the end we all believe
That someday they will come back home, reclaim their rightful place
As citizens of honor in a land so full of grace

It was only just a week ago before the world had changed
I was singing in Biloxi before it was rearranged
I've seen Mississippi Bayou storms so big they give them names
But I never thought that I'd see such a scene
God have mercy on the soul of New Orleans

And after Storms of Summer comes the restoration fall
From Canal Street, to Bourbon Street, to Preservation Hall
We'll rise out of the water and though it may take some years
We'll take those angry waves of pain and wash away the tears

Cause it's really not the buildings lost, although we loved them so
But it's the people of this gentile place that makes folks want to go
To this magic place of poetry, this center stage of sound
Could there be a better reason to rebuild this hollowed ground

It was only just a week ago before the world had changed
I was singing in Biloxi before it was rearranged
I've seen Mississippi Bayou storms so big they give them names
But I never thought that I'd see such a scene
God have mercy on the soul of New Orleans
Please have mercy on the soul of New Orleans