The New Orleans Ninth Ward liked Huey Long...

The New Orleans Ninth Ward, where I grew-up, is a working class neighborhood with working class values. The working folks in the Ninth Ward liked Huey Long. They liked him so much they modified a labor song about Joe Hill to memorialize Huey’s legacy. Here’s that song, as best I can remember it:

I dreamed I saw Huey Long last night,
Alive like you and me.
Says I to Huey, “You’re long time dead.”
“I never died,” says he.
“I never died,” says he.

“In Baton Rouge,” says I to Huey,
him standing by my side.
“You told the greedy to share the wealth.”
Says Huey, “I never died.”
Says Huey, “I never died.”

“The corporate bosses, they shot you Huey.
They filled you full of lead.”
“Takes more than bullets to kill a man,”
Says Huey, “And, I ain’t dead.”
Says Huey, “And, I ain’t dead.”

Now standing there as big as life,
Eyes bright and with a grin.
Says Huey, “What they could not kill
Lived on with working men.”
Lived on with working men.”

“From New Orleans to Shreveport,
Where they hammer or set a tong.
Where workingmen defend their right,
It’s there you’ll find Huey Long.
It’s there you’ll find Huey Long.”

I dreamed I saw Huey Long last night,
Alive like you and me.
Says I to Huey, “You’re long time dead.”
“I never died,” says he.
“I never died,” says he.