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John Boutté: Living for “The Eternal Now”
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John Boutté: Living for
“The Eternal Now”
The New Orleans Tribune recently had the opportunity to sit down with the voice behind the theme song of the critically acclaimed HBO series "Treme"–Mr. John Boutté.
Before we talked about his past, present and future ambitions, Boutté wasted little time letting The Tribune know exactly what his feelings are regarding the latest nightmare facing New Orleans and Louisiana: the massive oil spill that was most likely the result of faulty and perhaps criminally negligent actions on the part of yet another company that has successfully exploited Louisiana’s precious natural resources with little to no regard for her environment and or people.
“To get on that subject, man, (the oil spill) I’m not going to single out BP, but this goes for anyone who goes about raping the earth for untold amounts of financial wealth–and I’m not just referring to the multi-national corporations that do it. They just happen to be the ones that got caught with their pants down this time. When Louisiana allowed for all of that de-regulation (for the oil companies), it was the equivalent of allowing the wolves to watch the chicken coop as we say down here. We (the people of Louisiana) have been allowing others to do this to us for so freaking long, man... it’s ridiculous. Ever since I was a kid and went fishing with my dad; I recall seeing the oil companies coming down here and digging up canals, which then led to salt water intrusion and in turn led to the erosion of our marshes.
As a result; when Katrina came, we had little to no wetlands and barrier islands to help cut down on the power of the hurricane when she came ashore. The question remains: 'who is getting the money?', because it sure isn’t going to infrastructure, schools, or education. We should all be walking on streets of gold when you consider the sheer amount of resources that have been extracted out of Louisiana over the years. It’s a damn shame… but it was the people of New Orleans-my ancestors, your ancestors who fought and defeated the British in the war of 1812-particulalary the Battle of New Orleans.
It’s almost as if the Brits are still bitter about that; and with this oil catastrophe have turned right around and centuries later given us a sucker punch. The seafood, the natural gas, the list goes on and on. Louisiana continues to get screwed. What were all of the D.C. politicians saying? 'Drill baby drill!' Well if that oil gets into the Gulf Stream and heads up the east coast-let’s see just how happy they will be then.”
After sharing his thoughts about the developing environmental disaster in the Gulf, Boutté switched reels and began to focus on what he says is still a sore spot yet a reality that persists in New Orleans, that of “systemic racism.” We need to concentrate on the rebuilding of this unique culture that we have in this city. You know, when the media kept speaking of the so-called “first responders” in dealing with the crisis that became Katrina-people need to realize that the real “first responders” were your neighbors or brothers and sisters who helped you at that time.
Many heroes were not in uniform. They were the people who risked their lives helping one another. That is indicative of the character of the people who make New Orleans what it is. And I can tell you unequivocally (with regards to talk of the levees being blown up) that if it wasn’t an explosion, it was a slow fuse erosion. So either way you look at it, it was the Corp's fault. That’s not a touchy situation for me. It was the Corp's responsibility to tend to those levees and keep ‘em up; there is no grey area there. That mission was a failure”.
The Tribune then asked John to do a bit of reminiscing and speak on when he first knew that his would be a life of music and how the "Treme" theme song came to be. “I knew back when I was a little kid and would be singing to my dog on the porch-and then to my sisters who I would drive nuts! It was then that I realized the power of music and what a voice can do. I discovered a real joy while doing it too. I was eight years old when I got my first horn. As far as the "Treme" song goes, I was living on St. Claude between St. Phillip and Ursuline, down from St. Augustine Church when a funeral began to come out of Blandin Funeral Home. So I was walking out on my porch with my morning coffee and I heard the church bells, the base drums, and then the dirge. And I was thinking to myself…wow. This is my city…this is my culture. It was then that I realized that when you see how people take care of their dead, then you know they are going to take of their living. When a culture honors their dead with respect and reverence, it was a culture that I became immersed in and was so proud of. Soon after they had cut the body loose and began to second line, and it was then that I went inside and began to write the song that was in my head-based on what I had just seen. I was hanging in the Treme, watching people sashay, past my porch, in front of my door, church bells a ringing, choir was a singing-all I was doing was describing what I saw in the Treme my whole life, and that’s how it came about”.
As the interview with Mr. Boutté neared its end, John went on to close on a theme that most in New Orleans have come to appreciate and realize: that one should live for today because tomorrow may not come. “The helplessness of Katrina was a wake-up call, ya dig? My philosophy is this: I am a believer in the “eternal now”, ya dig? Boutté fans will know that “Eternal Now” is a single that can be found on the album entitled "Good Neighbor." Reflecting on the lyrics in the song, Boutté adds that: “We live in the eternal now because the past is gone, the future is tomorrow. Now is the moment here, now will never disappear-cause you live in the eternal now…so no… I have no plans. Life has a way of messing up your plans. As a jazz musician, it’s like an improvisational dance. The universe is going to offer me various opportunities, and they will come one way or another. I have never run after anything in my career. Like the theme song to "Treme," gigs and opportunities will and have presented themselves to me”.
