Bob Dylan - Mississippi

"Mississippi" is the second song on Bob Dylan's 2001 album "Love and Theft". The song was originally recorded during the Time Out of Mind (1997) sessions, but was ultimately left off the album; Dylan rerecorded the song for "Love and Theft" in May 2001. Three outtakes (two versions on two general discs and one on the bonus disc) of this song from Time Out Of Mind sessions were included in Dylan's "official" bootleg album Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Rare and Unreleased. Described as having beauty and gravitas, the song features a popchord progression and with a riff and lyrical theme similar to "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again". In 2009, Rolling Stone named "Mississippi" the 17th best song of the decade, calling it "A drifter's love song that seems to sum up Dylan's entire career, and a rambling classic that ranks up there with 'Tangled Up in Blue'."

This song is awesome in every version Dylan recorded, as every version is very different in feel and in instrumentation, thus here I present to you all four versions. If you think you don't like "new" Dylan albums, try these songs and you'll be cured. These are the lyrics and download the four tracks here. I've been listening to these songs for weeks now, and they don't grow old...

1. Mississippi (Love & Theft) [5:21]
2. Mississippi (Time Out Of Mind Sessions, Version 1) [6:04)
3. Mississippi (Time Out Of Mind Sessions, Version 2) [6:22]
4. Mississippi (Time Out Of Mind Sessions, Version 3) [6:20]
Total time: [24:05]

Every step of the way we walk the line
Your days are numbered, so are mine
Time is pilin’ up, we struggle and we scrape
We’re all boxed in, nowhere to escape


City’s just a jungle; more games to play
Trapped in the heart of it, tryin' to get away
I was raised in the country, I been workin’ in the town
I been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down

Got nothin' for you, I had nothin' before
Don’t even have anything for myself anymore
Sky full of fire, pain pourin’ down
Nothing you can sell me, I’ll see you around

All my powers of expression and thoughts so sublime
Could never do you justice in reason or rhyme
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long

Well, the devil’s in the alley, mule’s in the stall
Say anything you wanna, I have heard it all
I was thinkin’ 'bout the things that Rosie said
I was dreaming I was sleepin' in Rosie’s bed

Walkin' through the leaves, falling from the trees
Feelin' like a stranger nobody sees
So many things that we never will undo
I know you’re sorry, I’m sorry too

Some people will offer you their hand and some won’t
Last night I knew you, tonight I don’t
I need somethin’ strong to distract my mind
I’m gonna look at you ’til my eyes go blind

Well I got here followin' the southern star
I crossed that river just to be where you are
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long

Well my ship’s been split to splinters and it’s sinkin' fast
I’m drownin’ in the poison, got no future, got no past
But my heart is not weary, it’s light and it’s free
I’ve got nothin’ but affection for all those who’ve sailed with me

Everybody movin’ if they ain’t already there
Everybody got to move somewhere
Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow
Things should start to get interestin' right about now

My clothes are wet, tight on my skin
Not as tight as the corner that I painted myself in
I know that fortune is waitin’ to be kind
So give me your hand and say you’ll be mine

Well, the emptiness is endless, cold as the clay
You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long

Copyright © 1997 by Special Rider Music