Lyr Req: Mississippi Summer (Si Kahn)

Subject: Lyrics: Mississippi Summer
From: Piff
Date: 17 Oct 03 - 01:32 PM

Anyone got the words to Si Kahn's "Missippi Summer" (famously covered by June Tabor)? Many thanks

Subject: RE: Lyrics: Mississippi Summer
From: Big Tim
Date: 18 Oct 03 - 05:33 AM

The Tabor albums (it's on at least two) don't print the lyrics. I couldn't find them in Google either (very quick search only). I can't make out a couple of phrases on the recording, but if no one can find the official lyrics elsewhere, I will post what I have, 99% of the song. It's a terrific song, done full justice by June Tabor with the Oyster Band.

Subject: Lyr Add: MISSISSIPPI SUMMER (from June Tabor)
From: Big Tim
Date: 18 Oct 03 - 01:21 PM

MISSISSIPPI SUMMER - written and copyrighted by Si Khan, transcribed from the recording by June Tabor with the Oyster Band.

My hands are as cracked as an August field,
Burned in the sun for a hundred years,
Furrows so deep you could hide yourself,
Ain't plantin' cotton no more this year,
I'll just sit on the porch with my eagle eye,
Watch for a change in the breeze,
Roads are as stright as a shotgun barrel,
Long as a bullet can see.

Chorus
You know hot it gets in Mississippi,
You know how dry it gets in the summer sun,
The dust clouds swirl all down the Delta,
I just hope that I don't die before the harvest comes

Black clouds gathering at the edge of town,
But no rain's gonna fall on us,
Bones? rise and fall in a distant field,
Earth takes a beating for all of us,
I thought I heard the engine of death up ahead?
It was only the crop duster spray?
Bones? rise and fall like the beating of wings,
Lord send us fleeting/ creeping? away?

Chorus.

Subject: RE: Lyrics: Mississippi Summer
From: Stewie
Date: 18 Oct 03 - 10:52 PM

Some corrections - Tabor's diction leaves a lot to be desired:

Stanza 1, line 6: Watch for a change in the WIND

Stanza 1, line 8: Long as a bullet can SPIN


Stanza 2, line 3: HOES rise and fall in a distant field

Stanza 2, line 5: Thought I heard the ANGEL of Death OVERHEAD

Stanza 2, line 6: But it's only the cropduster's PLANE

Stanza 2, line 7: HOES rise and fall like the beating of wings

Stanza 2, line 8: Lord send us freedom and rain [Gives the Tabor album its title].

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyrics: Mississippi Summer
From: Big Tim
Date: 19 Oct 03 - 05:06 AM

That makes more sense; thanks S.

Subject: RE: Lyrics: Mississippi Summer
From: Piff
Date: 20 Oct 03 - 01:56 PM

Thanks, Stewie and Big Tim: your help much appreciated.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mississippi Summer
From: GUEST,junebug
Date: 12 Mar 16 - 12:07 PM

Thank you, Stewie and Big Tim. I've been trying to work out the full lyrics with little success.

Subject: Lyr Add: MISSISSIPPI SUMMER (Si Kahn)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Jul 20 - 07:08 PM

I applied the corrections suggested by Stewie, then listened to Si's recording, and made a few more. It's "rows" not "roads." Also, Tabor changed "chopping cotton" to "planting cotton," which is a mistake. Planting is done in the early spring, not the hot part of the summer. Chopping cotton, by the way, means hoeing a cotton field. Chopping needs to be done repeatedly until the cotton plants are well-established enough to out-compete the weeds. That's why the narrator says: "I ain't choppin' cotton no more this year."


MISSISSIPPI SUMMER
(Si Kahn)
As recorded by Si Kahn on "In My Heart" (1994)

1. My hands are as cracked as an August field
That's burned in the sun for a hundred years,
With furrows so deep you could hide yourself;
But I ain't choppin' cotton no more this year.
I'll just sit on the porch with my eagle eye,
And watch for a change of wind.
The rows are as straight as a shotgun barrel,
As long as a bullet can spin.

CHORUS: You know how hot it gets in Mississippi.
You know how dry it gets in the summer sun.
The dust clouds swirl all down the Delta.
I just hope that I don't die 'fore the harvest comes.

2. Black clouds gath'ring on the edge of town,
But no rain's gonna fall on us.
Hoes rise and fall in a distant field.
Earth takes a beating for all of us.
I thought I heard the angel of death overhead,
But it's only the crop duster's plane.
Hoes rise and fall like the beating of wings.
Lord, send us freedom and rain. CHORUS