High Water (For Charley Patton)

About High Water (For Charley Patton)

"High Water (For Charley Patton)" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his 31st studio album "Love and Theft" in 2001. The song draws its title from the Charley Patton song "High Water Everywhere", and is meant as a tribute to that bluesman. It is one of many songs based on the 1927 Louisiana flood. Other songs about the event include Memphis Minnie's "When the Levee Breaks" (also recorded by Dylan on his Modern Times album as "The Levee's Gonna Break"), and Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927". The song directly quotes three classic American songs in the last two verses, first the traditional ballad "The Cuckoo" with the line: "The cuckoo is a pretty bird She warbles as she flies." Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom" with the line: "I'm getting up in the morning I believe I'll dust my broom." Charlie Pattons " Shake it and break it" with the line: "You can shake it, you can break it, you can hang it on the wall." Bob's amended version of this line is "Bertha Mason shook it – broke it, then she hung it on a wall." more »

Year:

2004

4:04

97 Views

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High water risin', risin' night and day
All the gold and silver are being stolen away
Big Joe Turner lookin' East and West
From the dark room of his mind
He made it to Kansas City
Twelfth Street and Vine
Nothing standing there
High water everywhere

High water risin', the shacks are slidin' down
Folks lose their possessions and folks are leaving town
Bertha Mason shook, it broke it
Then she hung it on a wall
Says, "You're dancin' with whom they tell you to
Or you don't dance at all"
It's tough out there
High water everywhere

I got a cravin' love for blazing speed got a hopped up Mustang Ford
Jump into the wagon, love, throw your panties overboard
I can write you poems, make a strong man lose his mind
I'm no pig without a wig
I hope you treat me kind
Things are breakin' up out there
High water everywhere

High water risin', six inches 'bove my head
Coffins droppin' in the street
Like balloons made out of lead
Water pourin' into Vicksburg, don't know what I'm going to do
"Don't reach out for me," she said
"Can't you see I'm drownin' too?"
It's rough out there
High water everywhere

Well, George Lewis told the Englishman, the Italian and the Jew
"You can't open your mind, boys
To every conceivable point of view"
They got Charles Darwin trapped out there on Highway Five
Judge says to the High Sheriff
"I want him dead or alive
Either one, I don't care"
High Water everywhere

Well, the cuckoo is a pretty bird, she warbles as she flies
I'm preachin' the word of God
I'm puttin' out your eyes
I asked Fat Nancy for something to eat, she said, "Take it off the shelf
As great as you are a man,
You'll never be greater than yourself"
I told her I didn't really care
High water everywhere

I'm getting' up in the morning I believe I'll dust my broom
Keeping away from the women
I'm givin' 'em lots of room
Thunder rolling over Clarksdale, everything is looking blue
I just can't be happy, love
Unless you're happy too
It's bad out there
High water everywhere

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Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan ( /ˈdɪlən/; born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and artist. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of Dylan's early songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'", became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving his initial base in the culture of folk music behind, Dylan's six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" has been described as radically altering the parameters of popular music in … more »

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