Mississippi Goddam (Live at Newport)

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Alabama's gotten me so upset Tennessee made me lose my rest And everybody knows about Mississippi goddam Alabama's got me so upset And Watts has made me lose my rest Everybody knows about Mississippi goddam [Bridge] Can't you see it I know you can feel it It's all in the air I can't stand the pressure much longer Somebody say a prayer [Verse 2] Alabama's got me so upset California's made me lose my rest Everybody knows about Mississippi goddam [Instrumental Break] [Verse 3] Hound dogs on my trail Little school children sitting in jail Black cat cross my path I think every day's gonna be my last, yeah 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 You keep on saying "Go slow!" That's what you said now [Refrain] That's just the trouble (Too slow) Washing the windows (Too slow) Picking the cotton (Too slow) Come on, come on We're nothing but rotten (Too slow) We're too damn lazy (Too slow) I think it's crazy (Too slow) Where am I going? What am I doing? I don't know I don't know I just try to do my very best Stand up, be counted with all the rest Everybody knows about Mississippi goddam [Instrumental Break] [Interlude] This is our last tune On drums is Robert Hamilton On guitar is Rudy Stevenson On bass Lisle Atkinson Thank you [Instrumental Break] [Verse 4] Yeah You get in them picket lines School boycotts They try to tell me it's a communist plot But all I want is equality For my sister, my brother, my mama, my people and me Well, you lied to me all these years You told me to wash and clean my ears Talk real fine just like a Southern lady You'd stop calling me Aunt Sadie But my country America is full of lies We're all gonna die, die like flies 'Cause I don't trust nobody anymore They keep on saying "Go slow!" [Instrumental Break] [Refrain] That's just the trouble (Too slow) Desegregation (Too slow) Mass participation (Too slow) Unification (Too slow) Do things gradually (Too slow) Will 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 [Outro] 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 goddam That's it!