Story Behind The Song

i went to new orleans last year, to see the jazzfest. my friends had rented a house right behind the gospel tent. we could hear the choirs sing all day long. the city was full of street musicians and vendors with jujubeads and carnival masks and delicious new orleans food. it was the end of april and already really hot. 4 kids, none older than 10, were tap-dancing on our corner. they had cut up bear cans on their sneakers. the grooves they were playing would have amazed most drummers i know. i took out my taperecorder and stood next to them for a while. my little friend shashi from new orleans kept me company. when i dropped some money in the hat they had put out, he noticed that the smallest of the 4 boys didn't get any of it. shashi kept on me until i walked right over to the little guy and put a $5 bill in his hand. i should have known better. the oldest of the kids tried to grab the money from the little one and a fight broke out. i gave everyone a $5, they took it away from the little one again, i gave him some money again. they just carried on fighting. i felt like a real stupid tourist. finally they started dancing again and they put on a great, flashy performance for us. shashi was proud as a peacock for having taken care of things on his street and we went to eat some beignets until we were both covered in white powdered sugar. when i started to write a song to the groove i had recorded, i noticed this little voice in the background? " ice-cold water, $1 ice cold water $1", over and over again. that's when i remembered her. a fat little girl sitting on a cart with a bucket full of ice. i wished i had gone over to talk to her, i wished i had bought some of her water.

Song Description

A song inspired by a little girl in New Orleans sitting in a corner selling ice cold water for $1.

Lyrics

Ice Cold Water $1
When the sun comes up in New Orleans
And the last of the bands goes home to sleep
I push my cart down Bourbon St.
I get some ice
I get something to eat
I sit on my spot and wait for the heat
Come 11 I start to holler

Ice cold water one dollar

My brother is tall, he?s as smart as can be
He cuts up beer cans, sticks them to his feet
He taps with his friends on the corner of the street
I can see him fighting for the money he keeps
I have to admit he?s a thief
Me, I sit on my spot and holler

Ice cold water one dollar

Bridge: What?s good is bad, what?s bad is good
Here come the rich folk
There goes the neighborhood
One side of the sky is full of rain
The other side is full of light
Here come the thunder
The devil must be beating his wife

When the sun goes down over the bayou
The city wakes up, the day is through
The pretty girls put on their dancing shoes
The hustlers and the whores are waiting for you
The moon comes up, I?ve got nothing left to do
So I pack up my stuff and stop to holler

Ice cold water one dollar