[Intro – Air et Parole] (Soft piano arpeggios, brass whispering under the melody) 🎶 Oh ma belle, ma ville inondée, you shined through the storm like a candle parade. Every tear became a note, every note became a prayer._ 🎶 (Jon speaks over the rhythm, half singing) The water tried to take our story, but stories breathe deeper than that. You can drown a house — but not the hymn inside it. ⸻ [Verse 1 – Flowing, melodic second-line tempo] Down on Chartres, the candles float, Mama hums through her old blue coat. The choir gone missing, but I still hear sound, Ghosts in the brass keep marchin’ ‘round. Feet on the pavement, hands in the sky, Dancin’ with angels too stubborn to die. If you listen close, the wind confides: “Child, joy don’t sink — it learns to ride.” ⸻ [Pre-Chorus – Operatic Lift] 🎶 La nuit s’efface, le cœur s’embrase, Every soul is a spark, every scar is a star._ 🎶 ⸻ [Chorus – Full Second Line Energy] 🎶 The sun still rises over New Orleans, Turn that pain into tambourines! We lost the roof, but we kept the song, ‘Cause love been here all along. 🎶 🎶 Le soleil se lève encore, Mon Dieu, we’ve been reborn before. Brass in the rain, joy in the flood, Turnin’ our tears into holy mud. 🎶 ⸻ [Verse 2 – Spoken-Sung / Jazz Flow] Now the saxophone walks like an old friend’s prayer, Drumline talkin’ ‘bout “We still here.” Kids playin’ ball on a roofless block, Sun cuttin’ gold through the aftershock. They said “start over,” I said, “start again,” But this time we start from deep within. We’ll build our house from rhythm and grace, And let the horns kiss every space. ⸻ [Bridge – French Operatic Expansion] 🎶 Chante, mon cœur, pour ce qui reste, Chante pour la vie, pour la promesse. Même noyé, l’amour respire,_ Dans la lumière, tout va refleurir._ 🎶 (Jon speaks softly) When you can’t see the light, you hum it into being. That’s how New Orleans survives — we hum ourselves home. ⸻ [Final Chorus – Joyful Crescendo / Brass Parade] 🎶 The sun still rises over New Orleans, Turn the sorrow into tambourines! Lift your soul, lift your horn, We’ve been broken, but we’ve been reborn! 🎶 🎶 Le soleil se lève encore, In every heart, the saints encore! From ashes to jazz, from silence to song — Keep marchin’, baby, the spirit is strong! 🎶 ⸻ [Outro – Spoken with warmth, fading piano] “We ain’t just survivors… We’re composers of light. Every beat, every breath — that’s how the sun still rises.” (Final trumpet note echoes like dawn.)

“Le Soleil Se Lève Encore (The Sun Still Rises)”