(Tempo: Swampy, Mid-Tempo Blues

(Tempo: Swampy, mid-tempo blues with heavy harmonica and a thumping bassline) [Verse 1] The humidity is a blanket that don’t want to let go Between the kudzu vines and the Yazoo flow I crossed the bridge at Vicksburg with a heavy load Lookin’ for a truth at the end of a gravel road The cicadas are screamin’ like a choir in the trees And I’m down on my bruised and my Delta-born knees. [Verse 2] They say the river’s got a way of takin’ it back Every lie you whispered in a shotgun shack I saw a man in Jackson with a Bible and a blade Promisin’ mercy for the debts I never paid But the heat here don’t forgive, and the wind don’t forget I’m a long way from holy, but I’m not finished yet. [Chorus] Oh, it’s a red clay redemption, bury me deep Where the secrets of the Delta are the only ones we keep You can’t outrun the mud, you can’t hide from the rain When the color of the dirt is the color of your shame Blood on the levee, sweat on the vine I’m tradin’ in my shadow for a little peace of mind. [Bridge] The iron in the earth is the iron in my soul Stiff as a fever, black as a coal I’m diggin’ a hole just to see if I fit Or if the Devil’s got a lease on the bottom of it. [Chorus] Oh, it’s a red clay redemption, bury me deep Where the secrets of the Delta are the only ones we keep You can’t outrun the mud, you can’t hide from the rain When the color of the dirt is the color of your shame Blood on the levee, sweat on the vine I’m tradin’ in my shadow for a little peace of mind. [Outro] Down where the moss hangs heavy... Yeah, let that river rise. Wash the red off my boots. Lord, I’m finally home.