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Down South Lyrics

Headed back down south
Gonna see my daddy's mistress
Gonna buy back her forgivness
Pay off every witness

One more time down south
Sell the family headstones
Drag a bag of dry bones
Make good on my back loans

So if I come to your door
Let me sleep on your floor
I'll give you all I have
And a little more

Sleep late down south
Look up my former mentors
Live off yankee winters
Be a landlord and a renter

Create myself down south
Impress all the women
Pretend I'm Samuel Clemens
Wear seersucker and white linens

So if I come to your door
Let me sleep on your floor
I'll give you all I have
And a little more

Spanish moss down south
Find the heroes of my childhood
Who now can do me no good
Carve their names in dogwood

Chase a ghost down south
Spirits cross the dead fields
Mosquitoes hit the windshield
All documents remain sealed

So if I come to your door
Let me sleep on your floor
I'll give you all I have
And a little more

I'll give you all I have
And a little more
3 Meanings

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Cover art for Down South lyrics by Tom Petty

Wow what a great tune for someone like me who lives "Down South!" One of my new all time favorite TP&HB songs.

The lyrics are the most fun he's written in a decade! "Gonna see my daddy's mistress, Gonna buy back her forgiveness."

TP & HBs getting better with age!

Cover art for Down South lyrics by Tom Petty

I agree Muddy :) I love this song!

Cover art for Down South lyrics by Tom Petty

It's a great song, except Muddy, it's not the heartbreakers. It's just Tom. It's a great song of returning to a distant part of your life though.

I don't know why it took me 6 years to buy this album, but I have most of the others and this one is classic Petty at its best.

Love this song, but interesting references to dead things in this song: -Family headstones... bag of dry bones -Samuel Clemens (he's dead)... white linens -Chase a ghost... spirits across dead fields -Mosquitoes hit the windshield... documents remained sealed (finality)

You dig into this song and there is some reminiscing, maybe some guilt and some clearing of the conscience. Definitely visits his home (spanish moss grows on big oak trees in that part...

A good friend just saw him in concert this past weekend. He said Petty was great! And another friend (a musician) used to date Petty's sister. My point? I haven't one:) I'm also not a Petty fan...

 
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