Backwater Blues Version 2
by Bessie Smith recording of 19 from The Complete Recordings, Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy C2K-47474) When it rained five days and the skies turned dark as night When it rained five days and the skies turned dark as night There was trouble taking place in the lowlands at night I woke up this morning, wouldn't even get out of my door I woke up this morning, wouldn't even get out of my door Enough trouble to make poor girl wonder where she gonna go They rowed a little boat, about five miles 'cross the farm They rowed a little boat, about five miles 'cross the farm I packed up all my clothing, throwed it in and they rowed me along It thundered and it lightened and the winds began to blow It thundered and it lightened and the winds began to blow There was a thousand women, didn't have no place to go I went out to the lonesome, high old lonesome hill I went out to the lonesome, high old lonesome hill I looked won on the old house, where I used to live Backwater blues have caused me to pack up my things and go Backwater blues have caused me to pack up my things and go 'Cause my house fell down and I can't live there no more Hmm, I can't live there no more Hmm, I can't live there no more And there ain't no place for a poor old girl to go __________ Note: This was one of her most successful records; it was recorded just before the catastrophic great Mississippi flood of 1927 Note 1: backwater, mostly old river beds which are left to take the excess flood water to relieve pressure on the levees (embankments). As the height of the water is excessive, however, breaches in the levee walls are deliberately made at certain points to allow particular areas to flood and thus lessen the pressure of water. These are the "backwaters," which occur in the St. Francis Basin to the west of the river between Memphis and Helena, in the great Yazoo-Mississippi Delta north of Vicksburg , in the Tensas Basin west of Natchez , and at other selected points.
