Story Behind The Song

The piece started off as a project from school but it meant more than that to me so i dedicated extra time to it to end up with a finished product that I belived to be the best it could be. I wanted minimal music in the storm part of the piece to really bring the weather and news reports foreward in the mix. It needed to be poignant a and thoguht provoking and its also a song to remember the Hurricane Katrina disaster and a reminder that we still need to help, that the problem has not just gone away. That is at least what I hope people would think if they heard this piece. Thankyou for your time in reading this.

Song Description

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans it seemed devistated and lifeless full of sorrow and devestation. My song is about the Hurricane and how it hit the Jazz created city. It starts off with gentle piano like the calm before the storm, then powerlines are down and the wind is raging with thunder. Then I got the male spoken word vocalist to read out a news report three seperate times and I layered the songs just slightly afar from each other to give a delay/echo effect. I did the same with the female spoken vocalist also. I wanted both a male and female voice to show how the desaster was universal and affected everyone. Then the radio sound comes in and New Orleans jazz is playing. Jazz built the city in the first place and like that time it will rebuild the city once again. As the female news report states "they will rebuild". Then i bring the tune back during some jazz to symbolise lost lives that will not be forgotten. I end with a last bit of Jazz called the Heebie Jeebies by louis armstrong to give the message that they will bounce back as a city.

Lyrics

(Poems and News Reports about hurricane katrina)