Intro
A E A E
verse 1
E B
I was born down in the bottoms of the flat black Delta land
A E
I grew up picking cotton in the Mississippi sand
A
My mama said son take that girl and go make her your wife
B E
Or you'll be stuck here in this mud all of your life
A E B E
Will the water roll it all way this secret that I hold
A E B E
Will the water roll it all away will it cleanse my aching soul
A E B E
But a man's got to make it sometime a man's got to take a stand
B E
Or he'll get left in the Mississippi sand
verse 2
E B
A stranger came to town with two torn shoes upon his feet
A E
Singing songs of sadness picking girls off of the street
A
He made a little bit of music was a leader of a band
B E
And they call him the muddy Mississippi band
verse 3
E B
My girl was Ruby Colter and she was on her teens
A E
I took her out to churches to socials schools and things
A
She was a rose just right for picking and he nipped her in the bud
B E
And he left her here in the Mississippi mud
A E B E
Will the water roll it all way this secret that I hold
A E B E
Will the water roll it all away will it cleanse my aching soul
A E B E
But a man's got to make it sometime a man's got to take a stand
B E
Or he'll get left in the Mississippi sand
Instrumental
A E A E
verse 4
E B
Then me and old Carl we caught him right down by the store
A E
We choked him just a little bit and held him to the floor
A
We relived him of his pocketbook, his blood and other things
B E
Now the Mississippi man's no longer mean
A E B E
Will the water roll it all way this secret that I hold
A E B E
Will the water roll it all away will it cleanse my aching soul
A E B E
But a man's got to make it sometime a man's got to take a stand
B E
Or he'll get left in the Mississippi sand
Outro
A E A E A E