Songtext The day the mississippi died Gillian Welch

The day the mississippi died

Way up on the Erie they like their chops so fat
I've seen the League of Women lick their fingers like a cat
While out in California they like their soya beans
I pretty much eat anything from soup to turnip greens

I try to treat my neighbors like I like them to treat me
Even when they got that dog and cut down that tree
I hate that barking dog I miss that old oak everyday
But I don't expect everyone to see the world my way

Now the truth is hard to swallow it's hard to take
But I do believe we've broken what we never knew could break
I'm just so disappointed in me and you
But we can't even argue so what else can we do

So fill 'em up once again boys
Fill 'em up and over the brim boys
There's whiskey but the water's done run dry
So we're drinking to the end
Of a long long friend
And the day the mighty Mississippi died

Now the other day I saw a living picture torn from Hell
Taken down in Kensington a place you all know well
I saw demons laughing, breaking people just for play
I cried at the table then I put my tears away

I dug my hands deep into the black Mother Earth
Tried to raise my spirits up for what it's worth
You laughed and said "Aw honey, now what did you expect?"
Not these tears and nightmare years where madness goes unchecked

Oh fill 'em up once again boys
Fill 'em up and over the brim boys
There's whiskey but the water's done run dry
Oh we're drinking to the end
Of a long long friend
And the day the mighty Mississippi died
And the day the mighty Mississippi died

My pony he did stumble and sent me to the sky
When the jury brought the verdict it was the blue-tail fly
I'm thinking that this melody has lasted long enough
The subject's entertaining but the rhymes are pretty rough

So fill 'em up once again boys
Fill 'em up and over the brim boys
There's whiskey but the water's done run dry
Oh we're drinking to the end
Of a long long friend
And the day the mighty Mississippi died