While working in New Orleans after Katrina, I started a song about a Weather Officer on a Hurricane Hunter crew who fell in love while on leave with a girl named Delareaux Faure. After some time, they decided to get married, but Katrina intervened and when he returned she was nowhere to be found.
Lyrics
SWEET DELAREAUX (Faure)
Words and Music by John Cannon
Sweet Delareaux, where are you
My heart is torn in two
Got to find my sweet Delareaux
In New Orleans our eyes first met, while I was parking my Corvette
I offered a drink, you acquiesced, I played my heart close to the vest
Sweet Delareaux, honey where are you
My heart is torn in two
got to find my sweet Delareaux
Weekends I’d come in from the base, we’d meet up at the usual place
It soon became more than a casual thing, So, I surprised you with a ring
Sweet Delareaux, honey where are you
My heart is torn in two, got to find my sweet Delareaux
Then all leaves were cancelled, Katrina was coming
I kissed your hand and got my engine runnin’
Instead of a night planning our wedding
I’d be on radar plottin’ a heading
We scrambled the planes, and resources inland
But our hurricane hunters had a different plan
We suited up on the line and hit the sky
Heading straight for the hurricane’s eye
When we dropped in the center it was sunny and blue
But as I dialed in the readings we all knew
This was the worst anyone could recall
There’d be hell to pay when it made landfall
Sweet Delareaux, honey where are you
My heart is torn in two, got to find my sweet Delareaux
When I returned there was devastation cut through the heart of our nation
Your house was ten feet underwater then I saw the neighbor’s daughter
She said you got it out but didn’t know to where. And that’s when my heart began to tear
I couldn’t find you and I couldn’t come back
‘cause the next day I shipped to Iraq.
Sweet Delareaux, honey where are you
My heart is torn in two, got to find my sweet Delareaux
Got to find my sweet Delareaux
Got to find my sweet Delareaux
Got to find my sweet Delareaux