Kingfish

Produced by

In Louisiana politics, few figures cast as large a shadow over the 20th century as former governor and US Senator Huey P. Long. “Kingfish” is sung from the perspective of… Read More

Sep. 10, 19741 viewer

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 one of those Frenchmen care!

Everybody, gather 'round
Loosen up your suspenders
Hunker down on the ground!
I'm a cracker, and you're one, too
But don't I take good care of you?

Who built the highway to Baton Rouge?
Who put up the hospital and built you 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 every one of you
Looked just like me!

Here come the Kingfish, the Kingfish
Everybody sing!
It'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!

About

In Louisiana politics, few figures cast as large a shadow over the 20th century as former governor and US Senator Huey P. Long. “Kingfish” is sung from the perspective of Long, who was known for self-aggrandizement.

“The Kingfish” was a self-proclaimed nickname, taken from the name of a character on the radio program Amos ‘n Andy.

Long’s career was tumultuous and marked by scandals including financial wrongdoing, self-enrichment, cronyism, and widespread corruption. He was assassinated in 1935.

Long served as a model for both Buzz Windrip in Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here and Willie Stark in Robert Penn Warren’s All The King’s Men.