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Sep 24th 2007!⃝Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans on the 26th of August 2005. The government had promised the people of America they would provide provisions, to help evacuate the large amount of citizens that could not evacuate themselves. 22 hours before the storm hit the National Hurricane Bureau sent out a mandatory hurricane warning.
Due to the lack of organization towards this natural disaster, the American citizens started to protest against the American governments decisions to worry more about the oil and the looting that was taking place. The people of America protested in many ways, including riots, letters to the government, and protest songs.
One band particularly outraged by the disgusting performance shown by the government, was Audioslave. They released a song on they’re “revelations” album in 2007. This song was called “wide awake” and was a big hit in America. The song was written about the Bush administrations blatant ignorance and slow reaction to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation to the citizens.
The first verse of the song makes the song easy to follow. The lyrics to the first verse are:
You can a look a hurricane right in the eye.
1200 people dead or left to die.
Follow the leaders, were it an eye for an eye we'd all be blind.
Deaf or murdered, and this I'm sure in this uncertain time.
This verse explains that even though the government of America knew the strength of Hurricane Katrina they didn’t do enough to protect the people of New Orleans. And that when the hurricane had hit there were still thousands of people still trapped in the city. The lines “Follow the leaders, were it an eye for an eye we'd all be blind. Deaf or murdered, and this I'm sure in this uncertain time.” are basically explaining that if the government had taken the correct actions in the first place, many of the casualties could have been avoided.
The chorus lyrics are also simple to understand when listened to:
So come pull the sheet over my eyes
So I can sleep tonight
Despite what I've seen today.
I found you guilty of a crime, of sleeping at a time
When you should have been wide awake.
The chorus gives the main effect as it did to the song. The lyrics “So come pull the sheet over my eyes. So I can sleep tonight, despite what I've seen today.” refers to the fact of the reports on the television and in the newspapers, and the reality that citizens of America found it difficult to go about their daily lives after the devastation that Hurricane Katrina had on many people. The second part of the chorus: “I found you guilty of a crime, of sleeping at a time when you should have been wide awake” explains that the action taken by the government was such a poor reaction that they had almost prepared nothing to help the citizens of New Orleans, even when that should have been their main focus point.
The last verse in the song is about their ignorance to the peoples protesting and cries for help. And that the government was too busy trying to import more oil into America, and acted as if the lack of oil and fuel was the worst of their problems. The lyrics to this verse are:
Down on the road the world is floating by.
The poor and undefended left behind.
While you're somewhere trading lives for oil,
As if the whole world were blind, hey.
Eventually George Bush blamed himself for the ignorance shown by the United States, and that they will use this experience to learn so they can be more and well prepared for future disasters.
kthere, the most in depth interpritation you have ever seen
