kelsey waldon, “mississippi goddam”
from: they’ll never keep us down, 2022
“
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn
Can’t you see it? Can’t you feel it?
It’s all in the air
I can’t stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn
This is a show tune, but the show hasn’t been written for it, yet
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day’s gonna be my last
Lord, have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don’t belong here, I don’t belong there
I’ve even stopped believing in prayer
Don’t tell me, I’ll tell you
Me and my people just about due
I’ve been there, so, I know
They keep on saying, “Go slow”
But that’s just the trouble (do it slow)
Washing the windows (too slow)
Picking the cotton (too slow)
You’re just plain rotten (too slow)
You’re too damn lazy (too slow)
The thinking is crazy (too slow)
Where am I going? What am I doing?
I don’t know, I don’t know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up, be counted with all the rest
’Cause everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn
I bet you thought I was kidding, didn’t you?
Picket lines, school boycotts
They try to say it’s a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister, my brother, my people, and me
Yes, you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you’d stop calling me Sister Sadie
Oh, but this whole country is full of lies
You’re all gonna die and die like flies
I don’t trust you anymore
You keep on saying, “Go slow”
Go slow
But that’s just the trouble (too slow)
Desegregation (too slow)
Mass participation (too slow)
Reunification (too slow)
Do things gradually (too slow)
But bring more tragedy (too slow)
Why don’t you see it? Why don’t you feel it?
I don’t know, I don’t know
You don’t have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn
”
Ms. Waldon’s resurrection of Nina Simone’s little known 1964 protest song is a record of angry disbelief. Maybe we shouldn’t pick on Mississippi since racism is alive and well everywhere, but if you followed recent moves by its current state politicians your socks would roll up and down. And murder by any stripe should always piss us right off. She hails from Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky.