With just a sleeping bag and an old guitar, I left the band in New Orleans   I did some time with the bottle, some with the river queens   I never thought I would meet a girl who could turn my head around   Till I met that Mississippi Lady in sleepy Gulfport town      She was a Mississippi Lady, my lovin' Gulfport gal   She taught me how to love and she really loved me well   She took me up to heaven then she brought me down   That Mississippi Lady, Sweet Cordelia Brown      Hot July in Gulfport and I was working in the bars   And she was working on the street with the rest of the evening stars   She said, "I never met a guy who could turn my head around"   And that's really sayin' something for Sweet Cordelia Brown      She was a Mississippi Lady, my lovin' Gulfport gal   She taught me how to love and she really loved me well   She took me up to heaven then she brought me down   That Mississippi Lady, Sweet Cordelia Brown      Now I'm back in New York City playin' in a band   But my mind's on Mississippi, is it hard to understand?   I never thought I would meet a girl who could bring me that far down   Like the girl I met in Gulfport, Sweet Cordelia Brown      She was a Mississippi Lady, my lovin' Gulfport gal   She taught me how to love and she really loved me well   She took me up to heaven then she brought me down   That Mississippi Lady, Sweet Cordelia Brown   That Mississippi Lady, Sweet Cordelia Brown