Don't take at face value the things Downie may have said while introducing a song. He is usually making a joke, sometimes an in-joke for his bandmates. Is there anything actually in the lyric that would make you think it's about a battleship, other than the fact that New Orleans is Sinking?
First off, there was no battleship New Orleans. There was a heavy cruiser New Orleans, which was built in 1931, but it never sank. It was scrapped in 1959. So ... do you think Gordie might have been poking fun at all the people who try to tie Nautical Disaster to a specific event?
This seems to be a song about New Orleans as party town, and the confusing state of mind in being there. New Orleans is, in fact, sinking very slowly, and Downie has spun this into lines that should make perfect sense to anyone who has ever been drunk, confused, and struck with the sense that things are going wrong:
My memory is muddy, what's this river that I'm in?
New Orleans is sinking man, and I don't wanna swim.
The first and third verses are pretty straightforward, but the second is odd. "Colonel Tom" in the second verse could be Colonel Tom Parker, who was Elvis Presley's manager. That puts a double entendre on "deal," which could refer to a hand of cards ("Hey north, you're south" suggests bridge or a similar game) or a contract.
"Hey north, you're south, shut your big mouth, etc." has Colonel Tom respond by telling us to shut up and play, and not only on the obvious level. Downie as a Canadian (north) is south in New O, so we may not be talking bridge; we may just be saying, stop asking questions and party. Colonel Tom himself was actually an illegal immigrant, which puts a different spin on his instruction to a fellow outsider to shut up and party, on the question that prompts it, and on the impending doom implied by "New Orleans is sinking."
"Party while you can," the song seems to say, but a sense of doom is as much a product of partying too hard as a reason to do it. So in the end it seems he does the sensible thing and clears out of New O, without bringing any souvenirs.
@wonderdog Colonel Tom could be a way to refer to any person who has influence to make a deal. You could humorously refer to any manager or booker as Colonel Tom. He can't commit or won't give them the time to negotiate a deal. "Hey North You're South" I take to mean "you're not from around here" or "you don't do things the way we do them" so just do your thing - but could be sincere advice "don't listen to everybody just do what you feel is real"
@wonderdog Colonel Tom could be a way to refer to any person who has influence to make a deal. You could humorously refer to any manager or booker as Colonel Tom. He can't commit or won't give them the time to negotiate a deal. "Hey North You're South" I take to mean "you're not from around here" or "you don't do things the way we do them" so just do your thing - but could be sincere advice "don't listen to everybody just do what you feel is real"
Don't take at face value the things Downie may have said while introducing a song. He is usually making a joke, sometimes an in-joke for his bandmates. Is there anything actually in the lyric that would make you think it's about a battleship, other than the fact that New Orleans is Sinking?
First off, there was no battleship New Orleans. There was a heavy cruiser New Orleans, which was built in 1931, but it never sank. It was scrapped in 1959. So ... do you think Gordie might have been poking fun at all the people who try to tie Nautical Disaster to a specific event?
This seems to be a song about New Orleans as party town, and the confusing state of mind in being there. New Orleans is, in fact, sinking very slowly, and Downie has spun this into lines that should make perfect sense to anyone who has ever been drunk, confused, and struck with the sense that things are going wrong: My memory is muddy, what's this river that I'm in? New Orleans is sinking man, and I don't wanna swim.
The first and third verses are pretty straightforward, but the second is odd. "Colonel Tom" in the second verse could be Colonel Tom Parker, who was Elvis Presley's manager. That puts a double entendre on "deal," which could refer to a hand of cards ("Hey north, you're south" suggests bridge or a similar game) or a contract.
"Hey north, you're south, shut your big mouth, etc." has Colonel Tom respond by telling us to shut up and play, and not only on the obvious level. Downie as a Canadian (north) is south in New O, so we may not be talking bridge; we may just be saying, stop asking questions and party. Colonel Tom himself was actually an illegal immigrant, which puts a different spin on his instruction to a fellow outsider to shut up and party, on the question that prompts it, and on the impending doom implied by "New Orleans is sinking."
"Party while you can," the song seems to say, but a sense of doom is as much a product of partying too hard as a reason to do it. So in the end it seems he does the sensible thing and clears out of New O, without bringing any souvenirs.
@wonderdog Colonel Tom could be a way to refer to any person who has influence to make a deal. You could humorously refer to any manager or booker as Colonel Tom. He can't commit or won't give them the time to negotiate a deal. "Hey North You're South" I take to mean "you're not from around here" or "you don't do things the way we do them" so just do your thing - but could be sincere advice "don't listen to everybody just do what you feel is real"
@wonderdog Colonel Tom could be a way to refer to any person who has influence to make a deal. You could humorously refer to any manager or booker as Colonel Tom. He can't commit or won't give them the time to negotiate a deal. "Hey North You're South" I take to mean "you're not from around here" or "you don't do things the way we do them" so just do your thing - but could be sincere advice "don't listen to everybody just do what you feel is real"