Mississippi (Bob Dylan song)

"Mississippi" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan that appears as the second track on his 2001 album Love and Theft. The song was originally recorded during the Time Out of Mind sessions (demo sessions in Fall 1996; official album sessions in January 1997), but it was ultimately left off the album. Dylan rerecorded the song for Love and Theft in May 2001. Described as having beauty and gravitas, the song features a pop chord progression and has a riff and lyrical theme similar to "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again".[1]

"Mississippi"
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album Love and Theft
ReleasedSeptember 11, 2001
RecordedMay 2001
GenreFolk rock
Length5:21
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Jack Frost
Love and Theft track listing
12 tracks
  1. "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum"
  2. "Mississippi"
  3. "Summer Days"
  4. "Bye and Bye"
  5. "Lonesome Day Blues"
  6. "Floater (Too Much to Ask)"
  7. "High Water (For Charley Patton)"
  8. "Moonlight"
  9. "Honest With Me"
  10. "Po' Boy"
  11. "Cry a While"
  12. "Sugar Baby"

Reception

A 2015 USA Today article ranking "all of Bob Dylan's songs" placed "Mississippi" first (just ahead of "Visions of Johanna" and "Like a Rolling Stone"). An article accompanying the list noted that all of Dylan's greatest songs are about "that inexorable march to the end" but that Dylan was never "so wistful about the wasted years, lost love and loneliness as he is on 'Mississippi'".[2]

In 2009, Rolling Stone named "Mississippi" the 17th best song of the decade, calling it "A drifter's love song that seems to sum up Dylan's entire career, and a rambling classic that ranks up there with 'Tangled Up in Blue'".[3]

Rolling Stone also listed the song at #260 on its list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[4] number 4 on its list of "The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century",[5] and number 21 on its list of the "100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs".[6]

American Songwriter included it at #25 on its list of "the 30 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs".[7]

Live performances

Between 2001 and 2012 Dylan played the song 76 times on the Never Ending Tour.[8]

Other versions

Three outtakes of the song from the Time Out Of Mind sessions were included in Dylan's 2008 "official" bootleg album Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006 (two versions on the generally released discs and one on a bonus disc included with the Deluxe Edition of the album).[9]

Dylan offered the song to Sheryl Crow,[10] who recorded it for her The Globe Sessions, released in 1998, before Dylan revisited it for Love and Theft. Crow's version reworked the song's melody, phrasing, and arrangement, and has been described contrastingly as "remarkable"[11] and as "forgettable, head-bopping pop".[1]

Subsequently, the Dixie Chicks would make it a mainstay of their Top of the World, Vote for Change, and Accidents & Accusations Tours, in an approach that substantially followed Crow's.[12]

Singer/songwriter Ryan Adams covered the song live in concert in 2001.[13]

Sources
  1. Bill Janovitz (2008). "'Mississippi' review", AllMusic.
  2. "Ranking all of Bob Dylan's songs, from No. 1 to No. 359". For The Win. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  3. "100 Best Songs of the 2000s: Bob Dylan, 'Mississippi'". Rolling Stone. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
  4. "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2011-04-07. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  5. Vozick-Levinson, Jon Dolan,Patrick Doyle,Andy Greene,Brian Hiatt,Angie Martoccio,Rob Sheffield,Hank Shteamer,Simon; Dolan, Jon; Doyle, Patrick; Greene, Andy; Hiatt, Brian; Martoccio, Angie; Sheffield, Rob; Shteamer, Hank; Vozick-Levinson, Simon (2020-06-18). "The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  6. "100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs". Rolling Stone. 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  7. "The 30 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs: #25 "Mississippi" « American Songwriter". American Songwriter. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  8. "Bob Dylan Tour Statistics | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
  9. "Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1986-2006 Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  10. "For A&m, The Globe's The Limit On Third Sheryl Crow Album", By MELINDA NEWMAN, Publication: Billboard, Date: Saturday, August 29, 1998
  11. Stephen Thomas Erlewine (2008). "The Globe Sessions review", AllMusic.
  12. Willman, Chris (2007). Rednecks and Bluenecks: The Politics of Country Music. ISBN 1-59558-218-5.
  13. "Ryan Adams Setlist at The Blue Note, Columbia". setlist.fm. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
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