Sunrise on Lake Pontchartrain - Alexandre Desplat, Emmanuel Pahud & Orchestre National de France

I'll tell it like it happened, it was Darius and Noland and me Just a few po' boys trying to get up outta Missouri Took 55 to Louisiana, stopped by the highway to eat They both had crawfish, strictly chicken for me Back out under thunderheads, the radio was Southern soul They interrupted Clarence Carter with a strange-ass local show They were sayin': "Come down to Lake Pontchartrain Rest your soul and feed your brain That's where you will get to see everything the water can be" The rain was comin' down, the wind was howlin' outside of Slidell It was the kinda night that makes you think the whole world's goin' to hell We got off on an exit 'cause we couldn't read the map so great Near the Choctaw Motel, we parked to deliberate When out of the bayou came a man like the lake had a tongue He was right up on the glass, all yellow-eyed, black teeth, bangin' on the windshield Screamin' like a demon at the top of his lungs: "Come down to Lake Pontchartrain Rest your soul and feed your brain Free for you and all your friends, crawfish 'til the bitter end Come down to Lake Pontchartrain Wade to where the shallows break That's where you will get to see everything the water can be" I was driving out of there as fast as a Camry could But the interstate was flooded and I had to take the road through the woods Bad move in retrospect, the road disappeared in the rain And I stood on the brakes when I saw the sign: "Lake Pontchartrain..." Darius was yelling that he saw somebody out in the swells He jumped out runnin' and Noland was goin' as well "Come back!" Why the hell would they leave the car? And that's when I heard it, make no mistake - The voices were calling them from under the lake: "Come down to Lake Pontchartrain... Come down to Lake Pontchartrain... Come down to Lake Pontchartrain... Come down to Lake Pontchartrain..." The crawfish were screaming, the waves danced in time My friends went in deeper, the water, it climbed I watched in terror, the lake opened wide And horribly roaring, it pulled them inside That's how it happened, why would I lie? There were no bodies, I've got none to hide I'm just a boy, lost his friends in the rain Any more questions, just go and ask Lake Pontchartrain

It was one fine March morning I bid New Orleans adieu And I took the road to Jackson town, my fortune to renew. I cursed all foreign money, no credit could I gain, Which filled me heart with longing for the lakes of Ponchartrain. I stepped on board of a railroad car beneath the morning sun, I rode the rods till evening and I laid me down again. All strangers there no friends to me till a dark girl towards me came And I fell in love with my Creole girl by the lakes of Ponchartrain. I said, "Me pretty Creole girl, me money here's no good, If it weren't for the alligators, I'd sleep out in the wood." "You're welcome here, kind stranger, from such sad thoughts refrain, For me Mammy welcomes strangers by the lakes of Ponchartrain. She took me into her Mammy's house, and treated me right well. The hair upon her shoulders in jet black ringlets fell. To try and paint her beauty, Im sure twould be in vain, So handsome was my Creole girl by the lakes of Ponchartrain. I asked her if she'd marry me. She said that ne'er could be For she had got a lover and he was far at sea. She said that she would wait for him and true she would remain Till he'd return to his Creole girl on the lakes of Ponchartrain. Its fare thee well, me Creole girl, I never may see you more. I'll neer forget your kindness in the cottage by the shore And at each social gathering, a flowing bowl I'll drain And I'll drink a health to my Creole girl by the lakes of Ponchartrain.