me and my brother saw an awful thing comin up outta the river a hot night in june we ran back to the porch and daddy wiped his brow and said boys that s just the mississippi moon my brother said to me that wadn t no moon too red too big too wild too much to be like a mean old badger s eye fillin up the whole sky the real moon is just a little silver thing so we went back to the river bank the next night at dusk with spears that were made from willow branches and knives and when that thing come up ah we flung our spears and we run to our secret hiding place deep in the woods now we come home the night was bright as day an ma was snappin beans out on the porch dad was drunk and singin some old religious tune and we s all lit up by the mississippi moon