The Tragically Hip
New Orleans Is Sinking (Live At The Roxy May 3, 1991)
All right

Bourbon blues on the street, loose and complete
Under skies all smoky blue green
I can't forsake a dixie dead shake
So we danced the sidewalk clean

My memory is muddy, what's this river that I'm in?
New Orleans is sinking, man, and I don't want to swim

Colonel Tom, what's wrong? What's going on?
You can't tie yourself up for a deal
He said, "Hey, north, you're south, shut your big mouth
You gotta do what you feel is real"

Ain't got no picture postcards, ain't got no souvenirs
My baby she don't know me when I'm thinking 'bout those years

[The killerwhaletank Story]
I had a job before this, I had a job before this
Ultimately it was that job that drove mе into this
I Worked at an aquarium, an aquarium with lots of money
From the govеrnment, so it was HUGE!
I uh, I was uh, a clean and scrub man, we called each other
In the C and S union, I scrubbed the inside of the...
The killer whale tank. And after a while the boys in the C and S- clean and scrub- we just sort of made it one word:
The killerwhaletank. The killerwhaletank- uh! The killerwhale tank- oom! I'm going into the killerwhaletank. (Insert some various bizarre noises here)
I'd got along with these two big beasts so well, it was like they knew me, they looked at me with their hundred-year-old eyes, and it was like they knew me. I'd put on my scuba gear, my mask, my regulator, ( almost comically dramatic inhale ) and I'd fall into the tank with nary a sound, maybe a fffthpt , and then I was underwater. (Insert random underwater noises.)

Sometimes, I'd jump out, right in front of the window
When people are expecting a killer whale, and they see a human, they get spooked. SPOOKED!

Anyway I'd do that. Well I was, I was in the water
This particular day, unbeknownst to me, Shamu and Batholemu, their relationship had gone stale
Seems I was goin' in there so much, and I was lookin' so good, Shamu took a shining to me. And they're so smart, those
Things you know, they've got all these human emotions
Love, lust, green, hundred-year-old-eyed jealousy! Bartholemu was LIVID! Unbeknownst to me- I can't hear a goddamn thing underwater!

He came up, he was bumping against me a lot
A stale killer whale, bumping against someone so pale and frail...how was I to know the killer whale relationship had gone stale? Well...he brushes up to me a couple times, his skin's like sandpaper I say: "Hey man, Bartholemu, what's up? What's wrong? What's goin' on, big fella? What is it? What is it? I don' wanna steal your mommy, and I sure don' wanna take the place of your daddy. I only wanna be your friend."

And...and...he circled around, and I thought we were all patched up, and...and I was scrubbing...and he took my...and he...and he...he came right and he...he...he ripped my left arm off
I mean...he...the killer whale, they're the beast of the deep, mean they're, they're quite docile, they're quite friendly in captivity, but somewhere along the line, thousands of years of breeding, it just snapped and he took my left arm, he took my left arm, he took my fucking left arm . What's, what is it, Bartholemu?
I spoke to him in a language he could understand as I came back, (insert whalesque noises, something like: wooo-oooo, wooo-oooo, oo-oo , plus some high-pitched squeaks and chirps.)

Pale as a light bulb hanging on a wire
Sucking up to someone just to stoke the fire
Picking out the highlights of the scenery
Saw a little cloud that looked a little like me

I had my hands in the river, my feet back up on the banks
Looked up to the lord above and said, "Hey, Carol, thanks"
Sometimes I feel so good I got to scream
She said, "Gordie, baby, I know exactly what you mean"
She said, she said, I swear to god she said

Oh no
No, yeah

My memory is muddy, what's this river that I'm in?
New Orleans is sinking, man, and I don't want to swim

Swim