Louisiana 1927

The song tells the story of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which left 700,000 people homeless in Louisiana and Mississippi. A nameless resident sings it, and the song depicts a fictional visit by President Calvin Coolidge. It is a slow lament. Strings play the introduction, then Newman's vocal and piano come in with the band, and strings continue throughout. Newman has said that his aunt talked about the flood and had worked for Huey Long in New Orleans, and that he wrote it after Rednecks as part of explaining the man at the center of Good Old Boys. He said the chorus, They're tryin' to wash us away, carries the feeling that the rest of the country would like them to disappear.

Reprise issued it as a single on 29 January 1975 with Marie on the flip, and it did not reach the Hot 100. Pitchfork called it an apt musical sequel to Sail Away, and the Guardian ranked it 11th among his greatest songs.

After Katrina

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005 the song was played widely on American radio and television. Aaron Neville sang it at NBC's A Concert for Hurricane Relief, and Newman sang it at Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast. A new orchestrated recording appears on the Nonesuch charity album Our New Orleans. Newman also recorded it as a piano and vocal piece on The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1 in 2003. Ray Stevens covered it in 2007.