Levon Helm - Kingfish Lyrics






There's a hundred-thousand Frenchmen in New Orleans
In New Orleans there are Frenchmen everywhere
But your house could fall down
Your baby could drown
Wouldn't none of those Frenchmen care

Everybody gather 'round
Loosen up your suspenders
Hunker down on the ground
I'm a cracker
And you are too
But don't I take good care of you

Who built the highway to Baton Rouge?
Who put up the hospital and built your schools?
Who looks after shit-kickers like you?
The Kingfish do

Who gave a party at the Roosevelt Hotel?
And invited the whole north half of the state down there for free
The people in the city
Had their eyes bugging out
Cause everyone looked just like me

Here comes the Kingfish, the Kingfish
Everybody sing
Here's the Kingfish, the Kingfish
Every man a king

Who took on the Standard Oil men
And whipped their ass
Just like he promised he'd do?
Ain't no Standard Oil men gonna run this state
Gonna be run by little folks like me and you

Here's the Kingfish, the Kingfish
Friend of the working man
The Kingfish, the Kingfish
The Kingfish gonna save this land





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Levon Helm Kingfish Comments
  1. M.... B....

    Nowadays, we're all looking for an effective left-wing populist.

  2. R.... L....

    Written, composed and interpreted first by Randy Newman on his excellent 1974 album "Good Old Boys".

    R.... L....

    And... yeah, the whole show (= album) is a satire on the American South.

  3. M.... L....

    Thumbs if you are here because Kaiserreich :D

    M.... L....

    What the heck ist "Kaiserreich". We had a Kaiserreich until 1918, when our Kaiserreich completely broke up at the end of WW I and we were reduced to 12,4 % of our former area as a retaliation for starting WW I, but that's a century ago. To what "Kaiserreich" are you referring to?

    M.... L....

    ​@Reinhard Loidl "Kaiserreich" refers to a modded version of a grand strategy game called Hearts of Iron 4. The mod is quite popular, and the community which sprung up around it is famous for its Huey Long memes. I hope this clears things up.

  4. p.... ....

    God bless the America first union party

  5. J.... C....

    D I R E C T R U L E F R O M A T L A N T A

  6. R.... K....

    Levon Helm does a great job on this.  Huey could be vain, vindictive but he was a great governor, who did more in his years of governor than anybody before or after. Like LBJ a flawed giant.

  7. P.... ....

    Huey P. Long. "The Kingfish ...The man pulled Louisiana out of the peak of The Great Depression when he implemented free lunches in schools, state hospitals for the poor, the most paved roads in the nation, and the list goes on. He was ironically shot in the same capital building he built( which is the biggest in the U.S.) You can't go to any town in Louisiana without something named after the guy.

    P.... ....

    Prodelicous I've crossed several of those Huey P. Long bridges. I was born in NOLA and lived there off and on. He went from a country vacuum cleaner salesman to one of the most powerful men in the South.

  8. w.... ....

    A song about Huey Long aka The Kingfish

  9. A.... B....

    Randy Newman

  10. M.... ....

    Levon's Birthday should be a national holiday. Great Stuff !!!

    M.... ....

    it is in his home town in Arkansas, must be awesome :)

  11. P.... G....

    Amen, brotha.

  12. s.... w....

    Lots of people don't recognize satire when it is shoved up their Yazoo... Which is a river in Mississippi.

  13. k.... ....

    He was governor of the state..

  14. k.... ....

    He was governor of the state.

  15. t.... ....

    Sorry, Levon, but Standard Oil and their friends now own Washington DC and our state capitals.

  16. c.... ....

    "eat shit robbie" ?? You're a fucking loser, bro!

  17. w.... ....

    bluesboy2500, yes it is about Huey. Huey was a Louisiana senator in the 30s, did an enormous amount for the social welfare program and criticized the Fed, which may explain his assassination. Research his biography, he's one of the most influencial politicians in American history, and his murder's quite the conspiracy.

    RIP Levon (true legend), eat shit Robbie.

    w.... ....

    Ah just saw the documentary on Levon and the condition Danko's wife is living in should reserve a special seat in a very warm place for Robbie....

    w.... ....

    wakalicious7 Huey was the governor.

  18. C.... C....

    A voice like this one belongs in heaven anyways.

  19. a.... ....

    Rest in peace, Levon

  20. M.... D....

    I think we should mourn his passing, but also think he'd want us to celibrate his life. God Bless you Levon.

  21. j.... f....

    Levon do no wrong. Americana a la boogie, rock, and all spaces in between.

  22. b.... ....

    This song is about Huey Long right?

    b.... ....

    Yep - Huey P. Long .. we need him now more than ever! Huey for Pres! He wouldn't take no chit from the big cos .. Imagine if that big oil spill off the Bay would have happened today, as governor he would have told those executives, "I don't care if you have to get out there with goddamn eyedroppers - I want every drop of your oil off our shores of Loos-iana and every Lousianan to have every cent they lost because of it put back in their pockets .... is that clear? "

    b.... ....

    @atty garland, your comment really made me laugh heartily. I have read a biography on Huey P. Long and I do believe you're spot on with how the King Fish would have reacted.

  23. p.... ....

    @bluesboy25000 Yeah, Levon and Rick are/were both incredible singers, but boy howdy, Richard Manuel was one for the ages.

  24. p.... ....

    Levon Helm singing Randy Newman? Don't get much better.

  25. Z.... D....

    I'm only 6 and even I can write asinine drivel on the internet.

  26. m.... ....

    This the Band all dug up out of their graves on the old bones of Levon Helm and it has guts and beauty and juice and Levons most delicious personal stamp on its nostalgic ass.

  27. M.... s....

    super-awesome! He's still got it.

  28. b.... ....

    Levon Helm is the man. He and Rick sang all of my favorite Band Songs

  29. h.... ....

    Awesome song definately getting this never too old for rock and roll this is like a classic band album hell id love to see the band again who needs robertson Helm is awesome. Keeping the 60s spirit alive im 22 and this rules.

  30. I.... ....

    I knew there was always a reason why i liked Levon Helm...man what a good album. I am glad I bought this cd when I saw it. Thank you Levon!!!

  31. S.... W....

    This is taken from the Penn Warren novel!

    S.... W....

    Would you be referring to, "All the Kings Men" ? The loosely fictionalized book about Huey P. Long's political doings.