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


[Chorus]
         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


[Chorus]
         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


[Chorus]
         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