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Louisiana's Theogony

from Lamentations by Half Pagan

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about

Dr. Homan spends much of his life researching and teaching about things that happened a long time ago in Southern Mesopotamia, where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers empty into the Persian Gulf. In Louisiana, we live in a similar environment, the Mississippi River estuary, with amazing wildlife living in swamps. This song looks at the Enuma Elish, the famous Babylonian creation story about the birth of the gods (a theogony). So it's about how southern Mesopotamia was created. It’s about the similarities we share with Babylon in south Louisiana, but also about the threats that we face with land erosion and other vital ecological issues.

lyrics

LOUISIANA'S THEOGONY

The Enuma Elish is from ancient Babylon,
A cuneiform poem about how all the gods were born
It starts off with Primordial Apsu
Enuma Elish la na-bu-u sha-ma-mu

That just means that when the heavens
Were not named the fresh waters of Apsu
Mingled with the salt water of Tiamat
And the gods were born

If a Louisianian wrote the Enuma Elish,
It wouldn’t be that different ‘cept for the crawfish
Babylon and Louisian’ share sad histories
Of slavery, and tyrants, and murders in families

And estuaries so full of life
where fresh river water empties into the sea
If the Enuma Elish were set in Louisiana
It wouldn’t look that different to me.

Apsu wanted to kill his noisy children,
But his wise son Ea learned of his intentions
And wound up murdering his father Apsu
Reminds me of death on the bayou

And as our soil washes away
I think of Tiamat’s decay
After Marduk created the world from her craw
He should respected his meemaw

(Chorus)

In ancient Babylon, the purpose of humans
Was to dig canals for the gods, and to serve them
Just like we serve our oil gods
And suffer from pollution and put up with fraud

I hope Louisiana can find a way
to preserve our fragile estuaries,
Cuz the civilization of ancient Babylon
Came to an end in 539 BCE

(Chorus)

credits

from Lamentations, released March 20, 2018
Music and lyrics by Michael Homan

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about

Half Pagan New Orleans, Louisiana

We're a rock band based in Bulbancha. You might call it New Orleans. Sometimes we do songs about cemetery picnics or the mythology of ancient Babylon. We're Half Pagan.

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