Gene Clark Mississippi Detention Camp lyrics

When I was seventeen I went out on the run
What started out to be a fantasy ended up
Getting me down in trouble
And a-givin' me a pile of the blues
How was I to know fantasy can do?

Me and a couple of friends of mine
We were havin' some fun
'Til we started romancin' with the love of a gun
First bank that fell, we felt like a king and his court too
But we ended up in the Mississippi River Camp
Fightin' the blues

Watch those big wheels turnin' and got more time to do
Down on the Mississippi River Detention Camp
Fightin' the blues
I sit here rollin' down a river and I dream about Mary Sue
Wish that I had her by my side livin' in a California redwood

I remember that my dear old mama
She took me aside and said, ‽Son
I know you got a hell of a lot more pride
Than you can hide behind a gun”

‽So remember when you're out there
And the law against you
That you could've been a hell of a lot more
Of a man had been true”


And now I watch those big wheels turnin'
And I got more time to do
Down on the Mississippi River Detention Camp
And fightin' the blues
I sit here watchin' the river and I dream about Mary Sue
Girl I left behind in Kansas and left for the outlaw dues

I go one, two, three and never count past four
Why should I do the same when I know the days
Are gonna just count more?
I know that I've got to pay a lot of dues
Down on the Mississippi River Camp
And fightin' the blues

And I watch those big wheels rollin'
And I dream about Mary Sue
Wish that I could go back to California redwoods
If I ever make parole, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do
Livin' back in the forest
And I'm gonna warm myself a brew

'Cause I watch those big wheels turnin'
And I got more time to do
Down on the Mississippi River Detention Camp
And fightin' the blues