“New Orleans” is Track 5 on In Your Dreams (2011), Stevie Nicks’ seventh solo album. It follows “Wide Sargasso Sea” and precedes “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)” in the track order.
About the Song
Stevie wrote “New Orleans” about the famous city and Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and its surrounding areas in 2005. “It’s about New Orleans. It’s about Hurricane Katrina…your worst nightmare,” Stevie said in the In Your Dreams documentary. “I was horrified. So I immediately started writing my poem. I had to be very careful as a songwriter. I was conflicted on how much I could say. Yes, you have to say, ‘We may never forgive you, Government of the United States, for not coming to our aid. But we are a flamboyant city, and we are a city of music, so we will come back.’”
Lyrics
In the city of dreams lies the city’s ghost
There’s a beginning
There’s a middle and an end
In this city we reach out for the middle ground
We throw a great party so hearts will start to mend
We forgive…at least we try
In the midst of the sea of dreams lies a perfect storm
In the sea of tears lies a city ghost
In the spirit of the Mardi Gras
Well, the people hope that their lives will get better
The people hope that their lives will get better
I wanna get a room in New Orleans
I wanna sing in the streets of the French Quarter
I wanna dress up, I wanna wear beads
I wanna wear feathers and lace
I wanna brush by Anne Rice
And go down Bourbon Street
I see a sea of smiles
I see a haunted city reachin’ out
I see hope in all their faces
Behind the mask of Mardi Gras
Where the good and the righteous walk
And the wicked as well
I wanna get a room in New Orleans
I wanna sing in the streets of the French Quarter
I wanna dress up, I wanna wear beads
I wanna wear feathers and lace
I wanna brush by the vampires
I wanna dress up, ooh yeah
I wanna wear feathers and lace
I wanna brush by Anne Rice
And go down Bourbon Street
Go on down Bourbon Street
Within these rooms I go up to my balcony
And I hang the paintings on the wall
And I open up my gallery and I open up my doors
I stare at the city
I stare at my city
I wanna get a room in New Orleans
I wanna sing in the streets of the French Quarter
I wanna dress up, I wanna wear beads
I wanna wear feathers and lace
I wanna brush by the vampires
I wanna get back to New Orleans
I wanna sing out in the streets of the French Quarter
I wanna dress up, I wanna wear beads
I wanna wear feathers and lace
I wanna brush by Anne Rice
Go down Bourbon Street
Go down Bourbon Street
Go on down Bourbon Street
Go on down Bourbon Street
Go on down, go on down, go on down
Go on down Bourbon Street
In the city of tears lies the city ghost
(Stevie Nicks/Neale Heywood) © 2011 Welsh Witch Music (BMI) Admin. by Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI) / Neeling House Music (BMI). All rights administrated by Wixen Music Publishing.
Reference
Nicks, S. & Stewart, D. (2012). Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams [Motion picture]. United States: Weapons of Mass Entertainment.
