The New CD: Walking in the Rain in New Orleans

It was August. The event was Six String Music Invitational, a few days of music by singer songwriters from all over playing at The Funky Pirate & Tropical Isle with a focus on the songs and stories by each performer. But that's not what I'm writing about here. Check out the link at the bottom to find out more about Six String!

I had played the day before. It was Saturday and, unlike the deluge storm I experienced when I had arrived Thursday, that morning was mostly a steady rain. I had time to myself to look around, explore and shop so I journeyed out through the French Quarter to find some places I had visited back in 1995, 17 years ago. 

I found the Hotel Monteleone with its Carousel Lounge. I had stayed there with my mom and brother. I had shrimp and grits at the Café Beignet. (Café DuMonde was slammed when I stopped there and I felt the need to be by myself that morning, plus I was really hungry.) Afterward, I walked for so many blocks, meandering in the rain, ducking under balconies which kept me mostly dry. I watched street performers, saw the sights, alone. 

"This feels like a song," I thought. I had a melancholy feeling, thinking about changes during the past year, good and bad decisions, wondering what would happen next. With the rain falling, the song formed in my mind and, back at the hotel, with guitar and paper.

I'm waiting to hear how my producer, Kevin Johnston, is approaching it. It will have a New Orleans feel, I'm sure, maybe some clarinet. Who knows?

Walking in the Rain in New Orleans
©2013 Danielle Hoy

Set my feet on Dumaine
As the rain begins to fall
Tourists seeking shelter
In cafes, bars and market stalls

Follow Chartes to Jackson Square
Under bead-strewn balconies
My destination is unknown
I’m only walking where I please

I’m not sure exactly what I’m doing here
All alone and thinking of you

I’m walking in the rain in New Orleans
A shapeless shifting shadow on the street
You’re not here and I fear
I’m not the person that I used to be
I wish this rain would wash my conscience clean

The bright flame in the night
In the daylight burns away
The vibrant dream I had
Has turned to ashes, dull and gray

I clutch at old memories
But my hands fill with ghosts
As I walk I can’t explain
Just what it is I miss the most

And that old Mississippi keeps rolling by
Restless and lonely like me

I’m walking in the rain in New Orleans
A shapeless shifting shadow on the street
You’re not here and I fear
My new life isn’t all that it should be
I wish this rain would wash my memory clean

Instrumental

Chorus 

Post Chorus 
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
When that’s where you left your heart
And there’s one thing more
I miss the one I care for
More than I miss New Orleans

I’m walking in the rain in New Orleans

http://nophc.com/six-strings/