CPS

"A few days after New Orleans was flooded and finally evacuated, it occurred to me that a political song which protested against the U.S. Establishment's negligence in preparing for the Katrina hurricane disaster would fit well to the traditional tune of a previous song that mentioned New Orleans, the House of the Rising Sun. Unfortunately, many of the New Orleans residents who were forced to leave New Orleans because of the hurricane disaster are still suffering (despite the decreased global media spotlight on their current situation) as a result of U.S. Establishment negligence and unwillingness to provide the evacuated New Orleans residents with enough post-disaster material aid and involvement in the New Orleans rebuilding decision-making process .

The traditional House of the Rising Sun tune was collected, adapted and arranged by folks like John Lomax, Alan Lomax, Georgia Turner and Woody Guthrie many years ago. Professional musicians like Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan and "The Animals" later recorded their versions of House of the Rising Sun on early 1960s records. TRO apparently filed some kind of a copyright on House of the Rising Sun in 1941 and Ludlow Music apparently renewed this copyright in 1968. The lyrics to Destroyed By A Rising Flood, however, are in the public domain because I don't believe that political folk songs which reflect the collective consciousness of many people should be copyrighted and I'm also still politically opposed to the commodification of political folk songs by musicians."