From the recording Flood Plain
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Hurricane Katrina started me toward a broader metaphor. You would think humans would be smarter than we are.<br /><br /></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;"><em> <strong>© 2005 Steven E. Cutts</strong></em></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">a Studio C recording, <strong>Fall 2006</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;"> </span></span></p>
Lyrics
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">That hurricane blew through about a hundred miles an hour;</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Rained down misery.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Swept away the homes; knocked out the power;</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">It uprooted every other tree</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">‘Cause there was nothin’ down there to stand in the way</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Of the water and the wind that roared.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">And there was nothin’ they could do except to grab what they could</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">And make a run before it came ashore.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">There’ve been storms come through that were just like this</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Maybe every dozen years or so;</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">And folks around there have lost every thing before,</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">So you’d think they’d know</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">It’s not a question of if, it’s a matter of when</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Their lowland’s gonna flood once more.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">And everything they’ve built and all that they’ve owned</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Will get washed away and leave them poor.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">But they’re back and building on the floodplain –</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Back on familiar ground!</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">When the rain let up and the sun came out,</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">You knew where they were bound.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Their heads tell them it’s another blueprint for disaster,</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">But their hearts can’t see another way.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">They can’t help thinking: their luck’s about to change,</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">And this time it’s gonna be OK.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">His lady walked out on him at the top of her lungs;</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">She was throwing stuff and slamming doors.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Every love of his has ended like this:</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Just as stormy as the one before.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Somehow he ends up in the arms of the same sort of woman</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Who can only see what he does wrong.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">It’s not a question of if, it is a matter of when</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">She’ll lose interest and she’ll say, “So long!”</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">But he’s back and building on the floodplain –</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Back on familiar ground!</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">When his pain lets up, he always meets some girl,</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Whose name has a familiar sound.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">His head tells him it’s another blueprint for disaster,</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">But his heart can’t see another way.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">He can’t help thinking: his luck’s about to change,</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">And this time it’s gonna be OK.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Kings and presidents still send soldiers to war</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Against nations that have dared offend.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Sure feels like déjà vu over and over and over and over</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">And over and over again.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">We go back and build on the floodplain –</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Back on familiar ground!</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">A little time goes by and our memories fade;</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">You know where we are bound.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">Our heads tell us it’s another blueprint for disaster,</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">But our hearts can’t see another way.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">We can’t help thinking: our luck’s about to change,</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;">And this time it’s gonna be OK.</span></span></p>