Tupelo - Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

Looka yonder! 
Looka yonder!
Looka yonder! 
A big black cloud come!
A big black cloud come!
O comes to Tupelo. 
Comes to Tupelo


Yonder on the horizon
Yonder on the horizon
Stopped at the mighty 
river
Stopped at the mighty 
river and

Sucked the damn thing dry

Tupelo-o-o, O Tupelo

In a valley hides a town called Tupelo

Distant thunder rumble. Distant thunder rumble
Rumble hungry like the Beast
The Beast it cometh, cometh down
The Beast it cometh, cometh down
Wo wo wo-o-o
Tupelo bound. Tupelo-o-o. Yeah Tupelo
The Beast it cometh, Tupelo bound


Why the hen won't lay no egg
Can't get that cock to crow
The nag is spooked and crazy
O God help Tupelo! O God help Tupelo!
O God help Tupelo! O God help Tupelo!


Ya can say these streets are rivers
Ya can call these rivers streets
Ya can tell ya self ya dreaming buddy
But no sleep runs this deep
No! No sleep runs this deep
No sleep runs this deep
Women at their windows
Rain crashing on the pane
Writing in the frost
Tupelos' shame. Tupelo's shame
O God help Tupelo! O God help Tupelo!


O go to sleep lil children
The sandmans on his way
O go to sleep lil children
The sandmans in his way
But the lil children know
They listen to the beating of their blood
Listen to the beating of their blood
Listen to the beating of their blood
Listen to the beating of their blood
They listen to the beating of their blood
The sandman's mud!
The sandman's mud!
And the black rain come down
The black rain come down
The black rain come down
Water water everywhere
Where no bird can fly no fish can swim
Where no bird can fly no fish can swim
No fish can swim
Until The King is born!
Until The King is born!
In Tupelo! Tupelo-o-o!
Til The King is born in Tupelo!


In a clap-board shack with a roof of tin
Where the rain came down and leaked within
A young mother frozen on a concrete floor
With a bottle and a box and a cradle of straw
Tupelo-o-o! O Tupelo!
With a bottle and a box and a cradle of straw


Well Saturday gives what Sunday steals
And a child is born on his brothers heels
Come Sunday morn the first-born dead
In a shoebox tied with a ribbon of red
Tupelo-o-o! Hey Tupelo!
In a shoebox buried with a ribbon of red


O ma-ma rock you lil' one slow
O ma-ma rock your baby
O ma-ma rock your lil' one slow
O God help Tupelo! O God help Tupelo!
Mama rock your lil' one slow
The lil one will walk on Tupelo
The lil one will walk on Tupelo
Black rain come down, Black rain come down
Tupelo-o-o! Yeah Tupelo!
And carry the burden of Tupelo
Tupelo-o-o! O Tupelo! Yeah!
The King will walk on Tupelo!
Tupelo-o-o! O Tupelo!
He carried the burden outa Tupelo!
Tupelo-o-o! Hey Tupelo! [Repeat]
You will reap just what you sow

This titanic song by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds chronicles the Great Tupelo Tornado of 1936, while setting Tupelo's stage for the small boy who would change the world.

The boy was born in a "shotgun" shack "above the highway" in the very poor community of East Tupelo. He was one of twins; the first child was born dead.

The family later moved to Tupelo proper, where they lived near the African-American community of Shakerag and then on Green Street, in an African-American neighborhood named "The Hill." He made friends there, and enjoyed the Sanctified Church across from his home. But life in school was rough; his friends from The Hill had to go to a different school; they were black.

Soon, the Presleys moved To Tennessee. And the rest is history.

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