One Mississippi . . .

Mississippi's Music & Cultural Ambassador, Steve Azar 

Checked into our hotel in Greenville in time for lunch and a special treat: Greenville native Steve Azar, Music & Cultural Ambassador for the state of Mississippi, performed for us in the hotel courtyard. Among the songs he sang was One Mississippi, which he wrote in 2017 to honor the state’s bicentennial and which was made the official state song of Mississippi in 2022. (Lyrics below)

“I know you guys have football in Ohio, but it ain’t like in Mississippi . . .”

Steve Azar and his new fans

ONE MISSISSIPPI by Steve Azar

Fertile fields of flat lands and hills raise ’bout anything, whatever a farmer can dream.
Slug burgers, shrimp boil, catfish fried up in oil.
Oh good gosh oh mighty, just to husk a hot tamale, now.
Now that’s Mississippi.
America’s music birthplace where rock and roll was made out of our gospel and blues and that pure country tune.
Oh authors and poets, so profoundly historic.
An imagination of a child let their words run wild. Come on now.
Now that’s Mississippi.

I say, one Mississippi there’s a magnolia tree.
Two Mississippi where a mockingbird sings, out on its limb, whistling that sweet soulful hymn.
I say, three Mississippi to this land called home. I’ll breathe Mississippi ’til I’m dead and gone. Just carry on. I’ll carry on. Mississippi. Yeah.

We survived hurricanes, know them by name, rose above a flood, built a wall of its own mud.
And come Sunday morning, we profess our faith, we’re near the cross and His amazing grace. Oh yeah, now that’s Mississippi.

I say, one Mississippi there’s a magnolia tree.
Two Mississippi where a mockingbird sings, out on its limb, whistling that sweet soulful hymn.
I say, three Mississippi to this land called home. I’ll breathe Mississippi ’til I’m dead and gone. Just carry on. I’ll carry on. Mississippi.

Round here’s where the Muppets grew up.
And potters and artists inspired all of us.
It’s kudzu walls and fall football.
A Gulf Coast sunset and a Delta dawn.
It’s simple nights, a smile on a face, taking that peaceful drive down the Natchez Trace.
And our old man river, lavish lakes and streams.
Pines full of the wildest life and possibilities. That’s Mississippi.
Now Jackson is some kind of centerpiece on a most celebrated table of hospitality.
And ain’t it funny how the world has come to count it seems, they’re doing it everywhere, it’s not just one, two, three. No.

We’re one Mississippi where there’s a magnolia tree.
Two Mississippi while a mockingbird sings, out on its limb, oh what a sweet soulful hymn.

I say, three Mississippi to this land called home. I’ll bleed Mississippi ’til I’m dead and gone. Won’t you carry on. Oh carry on. Mississippi. Mississippi.