Mississippi Life from Desert Dogs by Mike Vitale

Mississippi Life
words and music by Michael Patrick Vitale

Blue-jean jaundice roosting on his fence rail stands
He’s got his elbows on his knees with his jowls resting in his hands
He liberates the spittle from the gaps in his teeth
Grittin’ with his grill on ground tobacco leaf

His families huddled up on the flatboat waiting on the river’s rise
Because his log cabins flooded from the devil in the Mississippi tides
His animals are mewling as the steamboat passed
The whole lot of them are stooped, mouth and gaze agape
Mouth and gaze agape

Because treading on the river is full of strife
But that’s deep water living in a Mississippi Life
Mississippi Life

Three deep creep in a yawl sounding depth on the river in the dead of night
Buoy lantern shimmer spots shoals by the shore in a distant light
The pilot’s got his hands on the ten and two
yacking jibber-jabber thoughts to the lower deck crew

When suddenly the pilot stopped the engines when he saw that the buoy lantern shimmer went black
But then it reappeared brighter in the center of the river and so he brought them engines back
And as the bows were in the act of splitting that shoal the sounding-boat crunched with a brittle snap
The steersman sent two brave souls to the grave and left the other one handicap

You know treading on the river is full of strife
But that’s deep water living in a Mississippi Life
Mississippi Life

colonnade and columns of black smoke ascending from the Natchez and and the Robert E Lee
forecastles lit up and glowing with a red glare from torch-basket jubilee
And on the river banks, it’s all hats and huzzah!
With the spectators claiming them the fastest dam thing they ever did saw
fastest thing they ever did saw

Because treading on the river is full of strife
But that’s deep water living in a Mississippi Life
Mississippi Life

Because treading on the river is full of strife
But that’s deep water living in a Mississippi Life
Mississippi Life

Because treading on the river is full of strife
But that’s deep water living in a Mississippi Life
Mississippi Life

Mississippi Life
yeah Mississippi Life
Mississippi Life

• Country
• Rock
• folk
• folk rock
• rock
• singer-songwriter
• Los Angeles