When The Levee Breaks
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break
And the water gonna come in, have no place to stay
Well all last night I sat on the levee and moan
Well all last night I sat on the levee and moan
Thinkin' 'bout my baby and my happy home
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break
Now look here mama what am I to do
Now look here mama what am I to do
I ain't got nobody to tell my troubles to
I works on the levee mama both night and day
I works on the levee mama both night and day
I ain't got nobody, keep the water away
Oh cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do no good
Oh cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do no good
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to lose
I works on the levee, mama both night and day
I works on the levee, mama both night and day
I works so hard, to keep the water away
I had a woman, she wouldn't do for me
I had a woman, she wouldn't do for me
I'm goin' back to my used to be
I's a mean old levee, cause me to weep and moan
I's a mean old levee, cause me to weep and moan
Gonna leave my baby, and my happy home
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Joe McCoy
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Memphis Minnie (born Lizzie Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter from the late 1920s to the 1950s, one of the most influential country blues musicians to have ever recorded.
Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest from her 13 other siblings. Her parents Abe and Gertrude Douglas nicknamed her the Kid during her early childhood. Read Full BioMemphis Minnie (born Lizzie Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter from the late 1920s to the 1950s, one of the most influential country blues musicians to have ever recorded.
Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest from her 13 other siblings. Her parents Abe and Gertrude Douglas nicknamed her the Kid during her early childhood. At the age of 7 she and her family moved to Walls, Mississippi, which was just south of Memphis. The following year after she moved, she received her first guitar for Christmas. She began to practice and learn how to play both the banjo and the guitar and it was seen that she had a great talent as a musician. When she first began performing she did not use her first name Lizzie, but played under the name Kid Douglas. When she was 13 years old she ran away from her home to live on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. She would play on street corners for most of her teenage years and would eventually go home when she ran out of money. She began to get noticed singing and playing guitar on the street corners. This brought an opportunity for her to tour, travel, and play with the Ringling Brothers Circus. Eventually she came back to Beale Street and got consumed in the blues scene. At the time, women, whiskey, and cocaine were high in demand with the people and places she would be around. She made her money by playing guitar, singing, and prostitution, which was not uncommon at the time. Most of the female performers were prostitutes because of financial desperation. It was said “She received $12 for her services-an outrageous fee for the time.” (Memphis Minnie Biography,1). She was known as a woman that was very strong and that could take care of herself.
She had been married three times in her life; first with Will Weldon sometime in the 1920s, then Joe McCoy (1929–1934), and finally to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe), in 1939. She and McCoy would perform together during their marriage. During this time, a talent scout from Columbia Records discovered her. When she and McCoy went to record in New York, she decided to change her name to Memphis Minnie. During the next few years she and McCoy released many singles and duets. She released the song “Bumble Bee” in 1930, which ended up being one of her favorite songs, and led her to a recording contract with the label Vocalion. Under this label, they continued to produce recording for two years, one of them being “I’m Talking About You”, which was one of her more popular songs. They soon decided to leave Vocalion and move to Chicago. She and McCoy introduced country blues to the urban environment and became very well known.
Memphis Minnie continued to have success throughout the years recording under many different labels like Decca Records and Chess Records. Some believe her fame was the reason for her divorce with McCoy due to jealousy and resentment towards her. She remarried after to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe) and began recording material with him. She became very well known in the blues industry and ended up being one of the most famous blues performers of all time, competing with both men and women.
She continued to record throughout the 50’s, but her health began to become a problem for her. She retired from her musical career and ended up going back to Memphis. “Periodically, she would appear on Memphis radio stations to encourage young blues musicians. As the Garons wrote in Women With Guitar, 'She never laid her guitar down, until she could literally no longer pick it up.'” She suffered a stroke in 1960, which caused her to be bound by wheelchair. The following year her husband, Earnest “Little Son Joe” Lawlars died. She had another stroke a short while after and eventually ended up in the Jell Nursing Home. She could no longer survive on her social security income so magazines wrote about her and readers sent her money for assistance. On August 6, 1973 she died of a stroke. She was buried in an unmarked grave at the New Hope Cemetery in Memphis. A headstone paid for by Bonnie Raitt was erected by the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund on October 13, 1996 with 35 family members in attendance including her sister, numerous nieces (including Laverne Baker) and nephews. Her headstone is marked:
Lizzie "Kid" Douglas Lawlers
aka Memphis Minnie
The inscription on the back of her gravestone reads:
"The hundreds of sides Minnie recorded are the perfect material to teach us about the blues. For the blues are at once general, and particular, speaking for millions, but in a highly singular, individual voice. Listening to Minnie's songs we hear her fantasies, her dreams, her desires, but we will hear them as if they were our own."
After her death some of her old work began to surface and some of her songs were featured on blues compilations. She was one of the first 20 blues artists that were inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.
Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest from her 13 other siblings. Her parents Abe and Gertrude Douglas nicknamed her the Kid during her early childhood. Read Full BioMemphis Minnie (born Lizzie Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter from the late 1920s to the 1950s, one of the most influential country blues musicians to have ever recorded.
Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest from her 13 other siblings. Her parents Abe and Gertrude Douglas nicknamed her the Kid during her early childhood. At the age of 7 she and her family moved to Walls, Mississippi, which was just south of Memphis. The following year after she moved, she received her first guitar for Christmas. She began to practice and learn how to play both the banjo and the guitar and it was seen that she had a great talent as a musician. When she first began performing she did not use her first name Lizzie, but played under the name Kid Douglas. When she was 13 years old she ran away from her home to live on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. She would play on street corners for most of her teenage years and would eventually go home when she ran out of money. She began to get noticed singing and playing guitar on the street corners. This brought an opportunity for her to tour, travel, and play with the Ringling Brothers Circus. Eventually she came back to Beale Street and got consumed in the blues scene. At the time, women, whiskey, and cocaine were high in demand with the people and places she would be around. She made her money by playing guitar, singing, and prostitution, which was not uncommon at the time. Most of the female performers were prostitutes because of financial desperation. It was said “She received $12 for her services-an outrageous fee for the time.” (Memphis Minnie Biography,1). She was known as a woman that was very strong and that could take care of herself.
She had been married three times in her life; first with Will Weldon sometime in the 1920s, then Joe McCoy (1929–1934), and finally to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe), in 1939. She and McCoy would perform together during their marriage. During this time, a talent scout from Columbia Records discovered her. When she and McCoy went to record in New York, she decided to change her name to Memphis Minnie. During the next few years she and McCoy released many singles and duets. She released the song “Bumble Bee” in 1930, which ended up being one of her favorite songs, and led her to a recording contract with the label Vocalion. Under this label, they continued to produce recording for two years, one of them being “I’m Talking About You”, which was one of her more popular songs. They soon decided to leave Vocalion and move to Chicago. She and McCoy introduced country blues to the urban environment and became very well known.
Memphis Minnie continued to have success throughout the years recording under many different labels like Decca Records and Chess Records. Some believe her fame was the reason for her divorce with McCoy due to jealousy and resentment towards her. She remarried after to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe) and began recording material with him. She became very well known in the blues industry and ended up being one of the most famous blues performers of all time, competing with both men and women.
She continued to record throughout the 50’s, but her health began to become a problem for her. She retired from her musical career and ended up going back to Memphis. “Periodically, she would appear on Memphis radio stations to encourage young blues musicians. As the Garons wrote in Women With Guitar, 'She never laid her guitar down, until she could literally no longer pick it up.'” She suffered a stroke in 1960, which caused her to be bound by wheelchair. The following year her husband, Earnest “Little Son Joe” Lawlars died. She had another stroke a short while after and eventually ended up in the Jell Nursing Home. She could no longer survive on her social security income so magazines wrote about her and readers sent her money for assistance. On August 6, 1973 she died of a stroke. She was buried in an unmarked grave at the New Hope Cemetery in Memphis. A headstone paid for by Bonnie Raitt was erected by the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund on October 13, 1996 with 35 family members in attendance including her sister, numerous nieces (including Laverne Baker) and nephews. Her headstone is marked:
Lizzie "Kid" Douglas Lawlers
aka Memphis Minnie
The inscription on the back of her gravestone reads:
"The hundreds of sides Minnie recorded are the perfect material to teach us about the blues. For the blues are at once general, and particular, speaking for millions, but in a highly singular, individual voice. Listening to Minnie's songs we hear her fantasies, her dreams, her desires, but we will hear them as if they were our own."
After her death some of her old work began to surface and some of her songs were featured on blues compilations. She was one of the first 20 blues artists that were inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.
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kenneth nesmith
This is one song of many rising out of the flood of 1927. Considered as the worst in modern US history. There are reports about in Arkansas Mississippi river areas where entire African American families were forced to reside on levees 24 hrs a day , 7 days a week to maintain the levee and keep it from failing. If they failed these people would not only lose their life , but the lives of their entire family. Man's inhumanity to man has no bounds.
More songs arising from the flood of 1927
Backwater Blues : Bessie Smith
Heavy Water blues : Barbecue Bob
High Water Everywhere : Charlie Patton
AlanCheek
@TRS
Man, these kids mean well but just don't know. Blues is about hard times. They couldn't come right out & SAY some stuff though.
Didn't you listen?
You had it right!
He just pronounces it differently - "...set on the lavvRee & moaned..."
They were poor & cheap "soul" food (like boiled okra) - well... you WILL
"...set on the lavvry & moan..." will happen for sure! & the hot sauce will make you "...weep & moan" for sure too! (Also see Johnny Cash "Ring of Fire" - that's what happens when you eat too much boiled okra with too much hot sauce ("I fell in to a burning ring of fire" - I'm sure we all been there at least once!)
But yeah - "...set on the lavvry & moan...weep & moan..." ALL night - & as a result of pulling the chain so much - you know, when you get that ring of fire started you gotta flush quick - if you wait until done (eating boiled okra you KNOW you gonna be there a while!) & It'll stink up the whole house!
But all that BIG mess of water from all the flushing, "set on the lavvry all night, weeping & moan"ing - they had no septic tanks or city sewers, then, it went right into the bayou! - & he felt like would cause the levee to break.
Am i making sense?
Yeah - you eat too much boiled okra man, & you will most definitely be full-up, all the way to the tippy-TOP-FULL of $#!+, just like I am!!
Didn't you listen?
You had it right!
He just pronounces it differently - "...set on the lavvRee & moaned..."
They were poor & cheap "soul" food (like boiled okra) - well...
"...set on the lavvry & moan..." will happen for sure! & the hot sauce will make you "...weep & moan" for sure too! (Also see Johnny Cash "Ring of Fire" - that's what happens when you eat too much boiled okra with too much hot sauce ("I fell in to a burning ring of fire" - I'm sure we all been there at least once!)
But yeah - "...set on the lavvry & moan...weep & moan..." - & as a result of pulling the chain so much - you know, when you get that ring of fire started you gotta flush quick - if you wait (eating boiled okra you KNOW you gonna be there a while!) & It'll stink up the whole house!
But all that BIG mess of water from all the flushing, set on the lavvry all night, weeping & moaning - they had no septic tanks or city sewers, it went right in the bayou! - & he felt like would cause the levee to break.
Am i making sense?
Yeah - you eat too much boiled okra man, & you will most definitely be full-up, all the way to the tippy-TOP-FULL of $#!+, like me!
Paulo Pereira
Led Zeppelin took this nice little blues ditty and made it seem like there was really a flood outside your door.
Rozz Romanovix
Also A perfect circle
A
Very disrespectful comment! This is HER song, and it's not a "little ditty". It's a song about an historic, catastrophic flood. Its a part of American history, told by a true folk hero.
SC
Led Zeppelin covered: I can't quit you babe, babe I'm gonna leave you, the lemon song, traveling riverside blues, when the levee breaks, you shook me, I'm probably forgetting alot but what all these songs have in common is they sound quite different from their respective originals.
But every 60s band did this, cream covered crossroads, I'm so glad, born under a bad sign, spoonful, (steppin out?), outside woman blues, from four until late, cats squirrel......
AAM Vlogs
Heard this song from a game called Slender man the arrival and absolutely loved it
Giovanna
Paulo Pereira I don't think it would have been considered a "nice little blues ditty" in its day. Around 1930 or so, way before the electrification of the guitar, sophisticated recording studios, and amplification of sound, it would have carried a fair bit of weight, I think.
jamesdeansghost55
Died broke, sick and forgotten in a Memphis nursing home in 1973. Laid in an unmarked grave for twenty-three years until Bonnie Raitt bought a headstone for her grave in 1996...God love Bonnie Raitt!!, a true respecter of the blues.
Ramona Rael
@Vincent Harris all the artists got ripped. Very few owned their rights.
Quinn W. Johnson
Somebody oughta have told Zep to follow suit and stop all that stealing they did and Never Once giving credit. Costello was right on, them philistines!
Giovanna
Yay, Bonnie!