Where were you when the sky cracked open?
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Heading for shelter and barely coping
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Thinking you could ride the storm out,
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Hoping it would be all right
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Where were you when they gave the warning?
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Hundred fifty-mile winds by morning
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Category four making landfall in the wild grey light
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Where were you?
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Where were you in the social order?
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The Lower Nine or a hotel in the Quarter
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Which side of the border between rich and poor?
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Where were you going to evacuate to?
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Assuming there was any way to
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Where, if you didn't own a car?
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Where were you?
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Where were you when you understood
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However decent, however good
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However hard some people try
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They only barely make it by
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They're born, and live their entire lives in harm's way
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Where were you when you heard the stranded,
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The injured and the empty handed
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Were running out of food and water at the Superdome?
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With the newborn and the elderly
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Exposed to even more misery
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While those in charge of rescue
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Waited for the Guard to come
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And those who left the Convention Center
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Were stopped on the bridge when they tried to enter
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The safety of the west bank, and higher ground
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And when the Guard finally did arrive
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And got to work on about day five
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Mainly they were used to keep the looting down
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Where were you?
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Where were you when you realized
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However strong, however wise
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However true our leaders appear to be
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When they talk about prosperity
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However hard this country strives
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If property is valued more than lives
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How strong will we ever really be?
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How long do we imagine we'll be free?
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We hold the truth self evident:
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The photograph of the President
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From Air Force One, he views the devastation
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Shaved face, rested eyes
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Looking down, he circles twice
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On his way home from his vacation
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Where were you, when you got the picture?
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Where were you?
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Where were you when the streets filled up with black water?
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Where were you when defeat and destruction
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Reigned in the Crescent
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Where were you when it blew from every direction
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Where were you when the promise was made
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To return, and rebuild, and restore to its people
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The city that gave us the first American music
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True inspiration and the freedom to use it
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Where will we find it again, if we lose it?
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And where will we be, if we ever cease to love?
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If we ever cease to love ...
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Where Were You
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Jackson Browne |