Intro 
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 
 

[Refrão]
         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 


[Refrão]
         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 
 

[Refrão]
         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 

Outro 
A E A E A E