A few of you actually did reply with varying lyrics, even some audio recordings, and I noted that in this follow-up article, and went a bit farther and asked, at the end:
Who else wants to write some lyrics about the Gulf Oil Catastrophe and perhaps even put 'em to music? They don't have to go to the tune of the Battle of New Orleans. America just needs songs, both songs of inspiration to help us overcome the tragedies going on in the Gulf as well as ballads of struggle and protest against government and Big Oil oppression and corruption are badly needed now to keep our spirits fired up to save the Gulf!!
Meanwhile, irony of ironies, someone in my own backyard, so to speak, was doing just this, unbeknown to me at the time. A well-known local Hampton Roads, Virginia singer/songwriter and friend, Tina Micula, suddenly sent me an email, with an mp3 file attached, of a song she had just written about the Gulf and asked me if I could help her with making a video of it. She specifically wanted to know if I had any photos she could use of the Gulf oil disaster. I didn't, but I knew that colleague Georgianne Nienaber did, and that she had already removed the copyright from them so that people could put them to good use. So Tina contacted Georgianne and received her photos, found a friend who could put together a low-budget YouTube-style video for her and also did a studio cut of her song to enhance the audio quality. And this is what arose like Venus from the sea:
Turn up your volume. This is one of those songs that the louder you play it, the better it gets.This is exactly the kind of ballad or folk song America needs right now, that transmits a way to deal with our grief about the vast destruction in the Gulf, above and below the surface, and at the same time a way to connect with Spirit to give us inspiration and hope to carry on the struggle to save and resurrect the Gulf.
Meet Tina Micula upfront:
* by Mac McKinneyTina is a serious, socially conscious singer/songwriter born in New York City, but who moved to Norfolk, Virginia over 20 years ago. You can read about her more in the YouTube pull-down textual information.
* by Mac McKinneyTina performing Lament for the Gulf of Mexico and other songs recently at the Five Points Community Farm Market in Norfolk in 95 degree heat. John Elliot is on drums.
* by Mac McKinneyTina cooling off after her set inside the Farm Market. She is presently working on a new CD.
