On the day the levee broke
The water did rise, The flowers did choke
I sat in my living room, Lit one last smoke
Then I watched it all drift away

Now my credit card's ringing up at thirty percent
There's a man in India wondering where the money went
But I can't pay

So I sat on my roof In Lake Pontchartrain
Singing woe to my chimney Singing woe to the rain
A stranger came by I never caught his name
He said he's rowing to the Rio Grande

Air Force One a blue streak in the sky
Mr. President, You can't afford to lie
Cause I can't afford to pay

Hurricane Angel I'm lifting my eyes over Baton Rouge
Lift up your wings let me hear your voice singing
Can you turn these black skies to blue again?

I'm laying on the floor of a trailer at night
with sixteen refugees waiting on daylight
I can't pay

I caught a flatbed ford up to Baton Rouge
with four worn out souls and one corkscrew
You can drown New Orleans but you can't drown the blues
so bartender pour away Exxon's having one hell of a year
three bucks a gallon man they're making it clear that I can't pay.

Lord, Lord, Lord
We haven't spoken in many a day
I got myself in trouble down in the Ninth Ward
thought I'd send a prayer your way

On my windowsill's
A stack of insurance bills
A man in Delaware says I can't have the pills until I can pay

Hurricane Angel I'm lifting my eyes over Baton Rouge
Lift up your wings let me hear your voice singing
Can you turn these black skies to blue again?

I'm laying on the floor of a trailer at night
with sixteen refugees waiting on daylight
I can't pay

On the day the levee broke
The water did rise and the flowers did choke
I sat in my living room lit one last smoke
and I watched it all drift away