Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
Peter Seeger once sang:
It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place.
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him.
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.
We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.
Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on! |
"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy"
Words and music by Pete Seeger (1967)
TRO © 1967 Melody Trails, Inc. New York, NY
The War grinds on with young life being stuffed into its great maw and death
and carnage left behind. Those of us watching clamber for answers on how
to stop it or how to see it as having a worth while reason for happening.
No answers seem to appear that make any difference. We stare stunned as it
crawls along consuming hearts and minds at a veracious pace.
A big circle of fools stands on the shore screaming, "Push on!" They're on
dry land with their hands on their hips directing those who they do not know
to press on. The flood water is rising, our knees are no longer visible,
the waters at our waists, and we shove deeper into the current. This same
group of fools -- Bush, Cheney, and Brown -- all stood mute watching Katrina
make the Big Muddy flow backwards drowning the heart beats of so many New
Orleanians. No mud on those boys’ shoes.
Hear/see Pete Seeger sing
Waist
Deep In The Big Muddy on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
[3
minutes from youtube.com]
[7
minutes full set of American war songs including Big Muddy from
youtube.com]
Read about:
How
Waist Deep in the Big Muddy Finally Got on Network Television in 1968
on Pete Seeger's website. |
