i was born down in the bottoms of the flat black delta land i grew up picking cotton in the mississippi sand my mama said son take that girl and go make her your wife or you ll be stuck here in this mud all of your life will the water roll it all away this secret that i hold will the water roll it all away will it cleanse my aching soul but a man s gotta make it sometime a man s gotta take a stand or he ll get left in the mississippi sand a stranger came to town with two torn shoes upon his feet singing songs of sadness picking girls off of the street he made a little bit of music was a leader of a band and they call him the muddy mississippi band my girl was ruby colter and she was in her teens i took her out to churches to socials schools and things she was a rose just right for picking and he nipped her in the bud and he left her here in the mississippi mud then me and old carl we caught him right down by the store we choked him just a little bit and held him to the floor we relived him of his pocketbook his blood and other things now the mississippi man s no longer mean will the water roll it all away this secret that i hold will the water roll it all away will it cleanse my aching soul but a man s gotta make it sometime a man s gotta make a stand and i left him in the mississippi sand