Muddy Water (A Mississippi Moan)
by P. DeRose / Harry Richman Jo Trent recording of March 2, 1927 from The Complete Recordings, Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy C2K-47474) Dixie moonlight, Swanee shore Headed homebound just once more To my Mississippi delta home Southland has that grand garden spot Although you believe or not I hear those breeze a-whispering: "Come on back to me" Muddy water 'round my feet Muddy water in the street Just God don't shelter Down on the delta Muddy water in my shoes Reeling and rocking to them lowdown blues They live in ease and comfort down there I do declare Been away a year today To wander and roam I don't care it's muddy there But see it is my home Got my toes turned Dixie way 'Round the delta let me lay My heart cries out for muddy water __________ Note: " "Muddy Water" is a great record despite the puerility of its lyrics – it's a pop tune that, of all things, sentimentalizes the recurrent Mississippi floods! Compare the guff about "Dixie moonlight, Swanee shore" with the honest and compelling imagery of Bessie's personal reaction to the great Mississippi flood of the same year (1927) , which she experienced while on tour (see – or rather hear – Bessie's " Back Water Blues ")". George Avakian; Note 1: Dixie, name for the Southern states of the U.S. First used in the song Dixie (1859) by Daniel D. Emmett Note 2: Swanee, or Suwannee, a 250 miles (400 kilometers) long river that flows from South-East Georgia & North Florida South-West into the Gulf of Mexico.
