There is a voice in New Orleans,
A baby's mother's sigh,
And as she holds her daughter close,
She sings her lullaby -
Now dry your tears, my darling girl,
Your daddy's said good-bye.
He loves you still, as he loved me,
Sweet baby, rockabye.
Outside the storm begins to grow,
The evening turns to night,
And as the clouds begin to close,
She sings her lullaby -
Now dry your tears, my darling girl,
Your daddy's said good-bye.
He loves you still, as he loved me,
Sweet baby, rockabye.
And soon that voice in New Orleans
Begins to break and cry,
But as the rising sun appears
Still sings that lullabye -
Now dry your tears, my darling girl,
Your daddy's said good-bye.
He loves you still, as he loved me,
Sweet baby, rockabye.
Please dry your tears, my darling girl,
I'll never say good-bye.
I love you still, I always will,
Sweet baby, rockabye.
I love you so. That's all I know.
Sweet baby, rockabye.
I love the song 'Lullaby' by Shawn Mullins - which describes the life of a girl who works in a bar in Los Angeles and the man who tries to comfort her. The song ends with the line "Everything's gonna be all right, rockabye, rockabye," and I thought, well, someday I'd write something with the word "rockabye" in it, a lullaby but with a twist, the way he did it.
ReplyDeleteThen, one day, I heard Mullins over the radio, in an interview. He had just released a new album, '9th Ward Pickin' Parlor.' The album was named after the studio in New Orleans where he had recorded many of his tracks, and which had been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
The album, dedicated to the spirit of music in New Orleans, closed with Mullins presenting a cover of the classic 'House of the Rising Sun.'
Everything clicked - 'rockabye'; the folk ballad; Katrina; the idea of a tableau involving a mother, a daughter, and a father leaving - and I wrote my ballad.
Short link - http://bit.ly/s4nolullaby
Your ballad is absolutely beautiful! Very touching. Thanks for sharing it. :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't read a ballad in so long--this is lovely.
ReplyDeletereading this was pure pleasure - thank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteOMG before I read your post I was going to say, I keep hearing HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN here. I loved it..so tender, sort of made me see Benjamin Button too. So much better a movie than what Fitzgerald wrote, so delicate and so deep.
ReplyDeleteI love your work. By the way (not knowing if you're interested) I think the best piece I ever wrote is about New Orleans. It's called Storyville. I am connected to that place in some lost now forgotten way.
Thank you for linking up. I am happy to know and read you. Gay @beachanny
I would love to hear this set to music :-) Really wonderful Sam.
ReplyDeletewhat a tender lullaby you present tonight as well...love that you set it in NO, a city still recovering...
ReplyDelete"He loves you still, as he loved me," this particular line gets to me; imagining the baby girl growing up to not know her father. Great depth to the family dynamic revealed by the "tense" change from loves.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. An excellent lyric.
ReplyDeleteI love you still, I always will.
ReplyDeleteI love you so, that's all I know.
Those two lines hit me like an arrow through the heart...beautiful as always Sam.
beautiful and lyrical-- this ballad could be a lullaby in itself.
ReplyDeleteNice writing love the whole sound of the piece...would love to hear it read....bkm
ReplyDeleteoh...it's melancholic and visual. enjoyed.
ReplyDeletesimply music to my hears, wonderful~~~ JH
ReplyDeleteWell sir you definitely pulled the lullaby/ rock a bye off. I loved the smooth flow of this poem and the musicality of it. Thank you for sharing this at One Stop.
ReplyDeletewhat a perfect ballad sam - i sang it....with the tunes of "house of the rising sun" of course...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, lyrical and touching. Would love to hear it set to music.
ReplyDeleteNice, solid work.
ReplyDeleteThis is precious, beautiful, and touching.
ReplyDelete