He was choking back the tears
As he tried to tell his wife
That the job he'd had for years
He'd worked hard all his life
That everything went south
And he couldn't meet the bills
And he had to sell the house
That his daddy built

And he'd ask how such a thing could be happening
But he was sure there was nobody listening

In the Gulf of Mexico
Near the town of New Orleans
Where all the tourists go
In this land of hopes and dreams
Then there came a killer storm
A devastating flood
And the people, they were warned
That it would turn their streets to mud

Sure enough, that storm took everything
And it was like there was nobody listening

In these days of change and mass communication
Seems like no one's plugged into the sounds of desperation
And they say the future's just an extension of the past
And history has a knack of coming back

Now the writer takes his pen
And he tries to find the words
Though time and time again
They often go unheard
And the singer sings his song
And he tries to impart
All the troubles going on
Weighing heavy on his heart

But what good is the song that he has to sing
When nobody's listening?
But I know why he has to try to sing
'Cause he believes that somebody's listening

Copyright: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Writer(s): Buddy Cannon, Willie Nelson