Making fun of music, one song at a time. Since the year 2000.
Check out the two amIright misheard lyrics books including one book devoted to misheard lyrics of the 1980s.
(Toggle Right Side Navigation)

Song Parodies -> "Building on Flood Plain"

Original Song Title:

"Walking on Sunshine"

Original Performer:

Katrina and the Waves

Parody Song Title:

"Building on Flood Plain"

Parody Written by:

Phil Alexander

The Lyrics

A brief apology: under the circumstances, anything by Katrina and the Waves has to be in fairly poor taste... but what happened in New Orleans wasn't a wholly natural disaster: man has changed the landscape there, removing vast swathes of the natural protections that New Orleans used to have, and there have been plenty of experts predicting exactly what happened who've been ignored over the years. So don't shoot the messenger, OK?
I used to live inside a city, now I'm on the shore
And now the level is rising, comin' through my door
Now I heard the expert opinion's been saying for years
New Orleans gonna submerge - it'll all end in tears

We been building on flood plain, oh no
We're building on flood plain, oh no
The building on flood plain, oh no
And don't we feel dumb!

Now some folks they prayed for some guidance, and some folks cleared out
A whole city hit by subsidence - you don't hang about
The levees hit funding restrictions and were way too low
And right on those expert predidictions - here comes overflow

We been building on flood plain, oh no
We're building on flood plain, oh no
The building on flood plain, oh no
And don't we feel wet!

Building on flood plain
Building on flood plain

I see a wave, I see a flood, I wade through mud that's real congealed
I see a wave, I see a flood, I wade through mud that's real congealed
We're on flood plain, baby, oh yeah
We're on flood plain. baby

We been building on flood plain, oh no
We're building on flood plain, oh no
The building on flood plain, oh no
And don't we feel dumb!

Your Vote & Comment Counts

The parody authors spend a lot of time writing parodies for the website and they appreciate feedback in the form of votes and comments. Please take some time to leave a comment below about this parody.

Place Your Vote

 LittleLots
Matches Pace of
Original Song: 
How Funny: 
Overall Score: 



In order for your vote to count, you need to hit the 'Place Your Vote' button.
 

Voting Results

 
Pacing: 4.9
How Funny: 4.8
Overall Rating: 4.9

Total Votes: 13

Voting Breakdown

The following represent how many people voted for each category.

    Pacing How Funny Overall Rating
 1   0
 0
 0
 
 2   0
 0
 0
 
 3   0
 0
 0
 
 4   1
 2
 1
 
 5   12
 11
 12
 

User Comments

Comments are subject to review, and can be removed by the administration of the site at any time and for any reason.

LucidLupin LeeBee - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
Excellent Phil 5s
Kristof Robertson - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
A thoughtful parody, that wasn't at all in bad taste. 555
Rex - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
I can't wait for the sequel: "Building on fault lines".
Diddims - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
Katrina and the Waves? What irony!
Red Ant - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
Phil, we were thinking along the same lines, check out the second entry today here:

http://www.amiright.com/names/onhold/
Phil Alexander - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
:-) Thanks all
Rex - I'll have to wait 'till after the next Californian earthquake for that one
Diddims - well, it had to be done
RA - Yep... have to admit, the idea for a K&tW parody was kind of obvious, but I wanted to do something that wasn't plain sick & heartless.
jango - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
Sometimes the truth isn'y very funny, but I found this to be poignant. The group name "Katrina and the Waves" is stunning in this instance and you put it to good use. Maybe there should be a voting breakdown category called "I sadly agree." Anyway, fives and thanks for not being "sick and heartless."
Red Ant - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
Phil, I submitted that entry with a comment attached (which wasn't included) stating among other things that I had best wishes for everyone affected by Katrina.
carol - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
thoughtful, well done and tasteful. Tacky loses my interest quick. 5's
Stuart McArthur - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
masterful stuff again Phil, and I forgive your choice of OS for enabling you to do the "I see a flood...." lines, which were perfect - your information is well-sourced Phil - 555
Chuck A. Spear - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
My thoughts exactly! Build a city on the coast below sea-level, than b*tch because they only approve half as many million$ as needed to keep it dry? Un-uh! If ya can't stand the heat, stay outta the kitchen- if you want assurance of not being flooded....stay away from the water. 555
John Jenkins - September 05, 2005 - Report this comment
You hate to use the word "dumb" to describe victims of a natural disaster; but, actuarially, this was bound to happen someday. Well done, Phil. No one has criticized your insensitivity yet, and I cannot either.
Kyla - September 06, 2005 - Report this comment
Not too funny, since it deals with a serious issue, but I still give it a high score in all categories because it's well done.
Agrimorfee - September 06, 2005 - Report this comment
Double level concept (using K&tW) made this actually funny...too bad these turns of events will shoot down the band's chances of everperforming on "Hit Me Baby One More Time" or "VH-1's "Bands Reunited"!
Kat - September 06, 2005 - Report this comment
I second Kyla's opinion.
Phil Alexander - September 07, 2005 - Report this comment
You're right about that, Agrimorfee... incidentally, it does strike me, reading the news recently, that Bush has actually been given a bit too much stick for not funding the dyke (levee)-building project there: ISTM that even if they'd have got 100% of the planned funding, even a few hundred million more, they'd still not have built 'em high enough to have prevented this happening.
Spaff.com - September 13, 2005 - Report this comment
Ouch. I live near a fault line, so I suppose I'm flirting with disaster myself. I also drive in traffic on a daily basis.

"Katrina and the Waves" is a stellar catch, Philbo. I'm envious. So envious, in fact, that I'm going to steal it. I mean SAMPLE it.

The author of the parody has authorized comments, and wants YOUR feedback.

Link To This Page

The address of this page is: http://www.amiright.com/parody/80s/katrinaandthewaves5.shtml For help, see the examples of how to link to this page.

This is view # 1671