Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Paul Sanchez: Foot Of Canal Street


SONG Foot Of Canal Street

WRITTEN BY Paul Sanchez, John Boutte

PERFORMED BY Paul Sanchez

APPEARS ON Hurricane Party (2000)

Paul Sanchez is a New Orleans treasure who deserves a much wider audience. Sanchez, who performs primarily in New Orleans and Louisiana, is quite simply one of the best singer-songwriters working today. Not only that, he is a gifted producer, as he amply demonstrates in his work with jazz singer John Boutte and on Stew Called New Orleans, their excellent collaboration released earlier this year.

They wrote "Foot of Canal Street" after discovering that both of their fathers -- one black, one white -- were buried on the same cemetery at the foot of said street. Boutte observed that we all wind up there sooner or later, and a song was born. Although the song begins slowly as dirge, the contrasting lyrics stem Sanchez' sunny optimism. "Don't waste your time being angry" because, well, in the end "I'll see you there/at the foot of Canal Street." It then breaks into a second line, one the Sanchez expects to last long after "all is gone."

New Orleans horn charts provide a perfect complement to the lyrics, supplyinh the gravity for the first part of the song and propelling the second line as "Foot" gathers momentum. The charts are a hallmark of Sanchez' arrangements, linking his songwriting to the musical tradition of New Orleans.

"Foot of CanalStreet" merely scratches the surface of Paul Sanchez' best work. For more, check out last year's superb Exit To Mystery St., Stew Called New Orleans, and his production of John Boutte's excellent Good Neighbor.
LYRICS
Don't waste your time being angry
When a moment's better with a smile
If you feel your time's been wasted
Waste it here a while
Standing at the bus just across from Krauss
Waiting for the driver to take me to my heavenly house

I'll see you there
At the foot of Canal Street
What will you wear
At the foot of Canal Street
Will the band be playing
At the foot of Canal Street
What will the people be saying
At the foot of Canal Street
Does your father lie there
Does your mother pray there
I'm going to put on my golden crown
At the foot of Canal Street

When the levee banks have overflowed
And the street car has seen its day
When all is gone: The plantations,
The Treme, and the Vieux Carre
I'll be swinging to that music
Way up on the higher ground
Where Pops is blowing "Walk On"
And Gabriel making sacred sounds

I'll see you there
At the foot of Canal Street
What will you wear
At the foot of Canal Street
Will the band be playing
At the foot of Canal Street
What will the people be saying
At the foot of Canal Street
Does your father lie there
Does your mother pray there
I'm going to put on my golden crown
At the foot of Canal Street


6 comments:

  1. I just love this song and this artist. Thanks for the links, too. Excellent narrative, as always! Cheers K. !

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  2. Thanks, Marguerite. I got turned on to Paul Sanchez last year during a trip to NOLA. I listen to him incessantly now!

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  3. great song, great performer.

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  4. Yes, he really is deserving of a much wider audience. I'm probably the president of Paul Sanchez Nation Northwest!

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  5. One of my five favorite songs of all time. Thank you!

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