Mississippi - River of Rhythm
“River of Rhythm” follows a Mississippi technician who keeps a notebook of diagrams by the sink, so every fault he traces can be found again.
The stories behind Mississippi - River of Rhythm
- River of Rhythm: A Notebook by the Sink — “River of Rhythm” follows a Mississippi technician who keeps a notebook of diagrams by the sink, so every fault he traces can be found again.
Lyrics
Down where the river bends
Past a weathered levee town
A midnight monitor flicker
Then the whole room settled down
He opened up the service case, checked every
seal and wire A biomedical technician,
steady hands beside the fire
He read the little numbers like a farmer
reads the rain
One careful turn, one measured test
And breath came back again
Mississippi,
carry this good news on
From the clinic door to the cotton fields at dawn
When a faithful hand puts a broken heartbeat right
We find a little mercy, we return a little light
Mississippi,
let the river testify
Care can mend a machine and hope can learn
to ride
He knew the names of every nurse the hum of
every hall
He kept a notebook by the sink with diagrams
for all
A pump that missed a warning, a lamp that
wouldn't shine
He traced each fault with patience
Till the signal held his line
No trumpet called his service
No headline headline bore his name
but families slept more peacefully
whenever systems came back
carry this good news on from the clinic door to
the cotton fields at dawn when a faithful hand
Puts a broken heart beat right
We find a little mercy
We return a little light
Mississippi Let the river testify
Can mend the machine
And hope can learn to ride
Who keeps watch When the long night lingers
A steady heart and
Two working hands Who brings the morning
Through the wires Someone who serves
Someone who understands
Down by the river
Hear the people say
Small acts of courage make a brighter day
carry this good news on let every
river town sing it from dusk to dawn when a faithful hand
puts a broken heart be right we find a little
A little mercy, we return a little light
Mississippi Let the river testify
Care can mend a machine
And hope can learn to rise
By the river, by the bedside
Service keeps the promise true
Mississippi, there is healing in
the work we choose to do
