Congratulations to all the…
MAS 2020 Summer Solo Songwriting Challenge Songwriters!
This marks the end of the summer solo songwriting challenge.
If you've had tons of fun participating, or think you missed out, there's good news. We've got more solo challenges planned, and we're just weeks away from our fall co-writing challenge.
Plenty of songwriting action going on at MAS.
What was the challenge?
This challenge had two requirements:
- Write a song with the title: Mississippi Moon.
- Use a chord sequence of 1 – 5- 6 – 1 – 2 (e.g. C – G – Am – C – Dm) somewhere within the song.
The chord pattern was randomly picked using a cell phone number, eliminating the 7s and 0s, and that is what the writers had to work with.
Lyricists who didn't play an instrument needed to include a rhyme pattern of:
A
B
B
A
in their song.
For example:
Tore off in her rusty red Corolla
Skinned tires and Passenger mirror cracked
Most of her stuff never got packed
Lucky if she makes Oklahoma
Each writer had the usual 30-days to write their song.
Here's what they came up with.
Enjoy:
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Greg Connor, All Rights Reserved
I was here when the moon broke that horizon
And the sunset was still in the sky
Now that lunar light brightly shines on
The river as it gently goes by
[Chorus]
Mississippi Moon shimmer on the water
As the river glides to the sea
Mississippi Moon help me consider
Something more than me, Mississippi Moon
So I watch the eddies as they mesmerize
Reflecting the moon and the stars
I conclude as I finally surmise
What a small part we really are
[Repeat chorus]
The river runs willfully
Reflecting the heavens above
I’m right here where I should be
Pondering purpose and love
[Repeat chorus]
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Vicki Morrison Goble, All Rights Reserved
“Come with me,” he said; “let’s go to Mississippi.”
His eyes were bright; his smile tight with hope
“You can even leave me when we get there.
I just need someone to help me go.
[Pre-chorus]
If I don’t go now,” he said, “I never will.
I’ll have a wife and kids; I’ll use an office key.
My hopes and dreams will never be fulfilled.
I really want to go, come with me please.
[Chorus]
Let’s go down to Mississippi
We’ll watch the stars at night and share a point of view
Let’s go down to Mississippi,
Where we can dance beneath the Mississippi Moon.”
I shook my head; “What would my mama say
if I took off and ran away with you?
And what about your bride; what about your wedding day?
And me, I really need to stay in school.”
[Repeat pre-chorus]
[Repeat chorus]
What if I had gone, what would I have seen?
I’d like to peek into that fantasy.
Would things be diff’rent? I don’t know.
If I had dared to follow my Romeo?
]Repeat chorus]
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Chad Shank Music, All Rights reserved
We were getting high and drinking cheapo wine
Somewhere in the weeds out by that riverside
We were teenage kids just chasing summer life
Started making out under the moonlit sky
We learned about love there that night
[Chorus]
Kissing you feeling your hands go up my T shirt
Feel the soft part of your lips
Bending our innocence finding the passion
A magical night of bliss
The riverbank crickets sang chorus in the distance
Serenaded our first time
Something got us in the mood
It’s the Mississippi Moon
We were growing up and learning as we went
Propped our blue jeans up so we could rest our heads
Watched stars go by wishing it would never end
Then we asked ourselves about what would happen next
That night we would never forget
[Repeat chorus]
We keep counting the years off
And that night never leaves my mind
Cuz when the moon is way up in the sky
It’s like no time has gone
And I’m back…
[Repeat chorus]
Mississippi Moon: © 2020 Mike Rudquist, All Rights Reserved
Way down south
Sixty one highway
Where the Georgia Pines shade
And the alligators play
I met my best girl, Ella
Who plays the guitar
Out of tune
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
The Bulldogs play
the Alabama Crimson Tide
We all cheer and stomp
On Saturday night
Touchdowns and pigskins
Are all that we wanna do
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
[Chorus]
So lets go
To those river banks
Where It feels so right
Where the moon sneaks in
On those southern nights
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
I've travelled all around the world
Paris to Tokyo
Seen the Broadway lights
Desert Island ocean glow
But I always come back
To the place worth coming back to
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
[Repeat chorus]
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Grant Ruckheim, All Rights Reserved
I saw the Mississippi moon
She shined upon the water and up back at you
And We laid back against the wooden canoe
In darkness, I shared a secret nobody knew
[Refrain]
Sometimes a friend can help you bear the load
Sometimes a friend will teach you more than you know
I’ve spend the last 8 months on my own
But It feels good to share the moonlight with you.
You listened patiently as I shared the news
And empathized how you’ve also been bruised
Told me that it could take a long time to heal
Unless I let the moonlight in and trust myself
It would take a lifetime
But now you'll be my lifeline
[Repeat refrain]
Now it has been 12 months since that Mississippi Moon
And I still here your worlds echo back at me
“Don’t listen to what he said. You’re worth much more than that.
You'll find someone to trust once you trust yourself”
[Repeat refrain]
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Colleen Dillon, All Rights Reserved
One night last week
I couldn’t sleep
So I thought I’d take a walk
By the river
If these hills would share
With that moon hanging there
This ribbon of ink would laugh
Without a care
[Chorus]
Mississippi moon shining down on me
I’m been such a fool
My heart just could not see
Mississippi moon don’t you laugh at me
I thought your love was true
but it wasn’t meant to be
You left me by
This very river high
Now you’re back in that
Bayou delta
You’re under the spell
of that southern belle
This river swept your love away
Straight to hell
[Repeat chorus]
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Doug Millaway, All Rights Reserved
I'm traveling down the Mississippi
The bright crescent moon overhead
There's a war going all around me
Can't believe I'm not dead
Moonlight don't know the difference
Between peace and a bullet of lead
My job seems pretty simple
The railroad that runs underground
We sail from light into darkness
Careful to not make a sound
Moonlight don't know the difference
Between being lost or being found
[Chorus]
Mississippi moon, what do you see?
Mississippi moon, help us be free
The blue and the gray all look the same
On a summer night lit by the moon
I'll take the chance to find all the stolen
We'll be heading up north really soon
Moonlight don't know the difference
Between Cairo and Saskatoon
Float past the lights of St Louis
I hear sounds of unrest on the shore
One man should not own another
Whether he be rich or be poor
Moonlight don't know the difference
Between flowers and manure
[Repeat chorus 3X]
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Paul Beckerman, All Rights Reserved
Sitting by the river on a slippery rock
Probably should have given it a little more thought
We made the long climb to the top of the bridge
It was 60 feet up to the jumpin’ ledge
And we did it. Yes we did it.
[Chorus]
And we’ll blame it on the moon
We’ll blame it all on the Mississippi Moon
Together in the night with the full moon bright
We’re gonna take a little ride on a risky side
We’ll dive in and blame it on the moon
We’re gonna blame it all on the Mississippi Moon
And when I jumped my pants caught hold
On a rusty old nail, that’s what I’m told
It twisted and it pulled me and it spun me around
It sent me tumblin’ down my world upside down
Toward the water, toward the water.
[Chorus]
And we blamed it on the moon
We blamed it all on the Mississippi Moon
Together in the night with the full moon bright
We’re gonna take a little ride on a risky side
We’ll dive in and blame it on the moon
We’re gonna blame it all on the Mississippi Moon
We did it, yes we did it
And I landed by a rock that was three feet wide
I was terrified, but I didn’t die, now we think of that night
Whenever we’re lost, don’t know what to do
I’ll take that leap, and I’ll take it with you
With you and the moon
[Chorus]
And we’ll blame it on the moon
We’ll blame it all on the Mississippi Moon
Together in the night with the full moon bright
We’re gonna take a little ride on a risky side
We’ll dive in and we’ll blame it on the moon
We’re gonna blame it all on the Mississippi Moon
We’re gonna blame it all on the Mississippi Moon
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Brad Dunsé, All Rights Reserved
I’m Towboat Toby out’a Baton Rouge
Pushing 40 barges with a triple screw
Headed north for Cairo Illinois
Flankin’ bends at 10,000 horse
Dodging skiffs and bars of course
Smell that river… man it’s a beautiful night
And look right there, ain’t that quite a view
That’s my Mississippi, Mississippi moon
[Chorus]
No matter where I roam in this old world
My pilot house and crew are always here
Back here on the river
Pushing 46,000 ton
And to get back here all I got to do
Is see my Mississippi, Mississippi moon
Wilkerson Point’s lyin’ dead ahead
That’s one wicked piece of riverbed
It’ll throw your tow when the river’s flooding high
It pulled us under in a massive fit
My crew got out, some say I didn’t
Somethin’ ‘bout those headlines ain’t quite right
I’m doing fine aboard The Déjà Vu
‘Neath my Mississippi … Mississippi moon
[Repeat chorus]
They say old river pilots never die
When they go down with their tow
I reckon there’s a bit
Of truth to that old myth
Guess that one’s best left up to you
‘Neath my Mississippi … Mississippi moon
[Repeat chorus]
I come back to the river
Every time they make this run
To get me here all they got to do
Is see that Mississippi… Mississippi moon
To get me here all they got to do
Is see that Mississippi… Mississippi moon
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Ann L Thompson, All Rights Reserved
There’s a carpet of light on the river tonight
I am thinking that it is magic
Sirens’ songs igniting, the forest delighting
Passions I fear could be tragic
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
Mississippi Moon, are you crying?
A union is coming. A dance of becoming
Fast, clear water is running high
Mother earth is drumming. Oaks and willows humming
All is one water, earth, and sky
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
Mississippi Moon, are you smiling?
The Corn Moon is calling. A new day is dawning
Ancient eyes are drawing me in
I’m feeling surrender, bewitched in night splendor
There’s a turning about to begin
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
You are laughing!
As the sun rises and my dream starts to fade
One thing I remember Mississippi Moon is alive
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Leslee McKee-Perry, All Rights Reserved
I've travelled the country
Seen a good bit of the world
Looking for a place I could belong
And I've seen some beauty
Made some life-long friends
But mostly what I felt like was alone
[Chorus]
Doesn't matter where I go
This will always be my home
I couldn't get back here too soon
To bathe in her light
Where everything's right
I missed my Mississippi Moon
Growing up in Minnesota
With the winter's stifling cold
Spent frozen to the core half of my days
What I've realized now that I didn't see before
When it comes to love, the River has her ways
[Repeat chorus]
[Instrumental]
[Repeat chorus 2X]
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Richard Schletty, All Rights Reserved
I'll hammer a beat with a rusty spoon
I'm takin' a ride on a drifting log
The night is clear, cause there ain't no fog
I'll drop a line as I carry a tune
When I hear that lonesome loon
I just wanna cry out loud
Underneath a starry shroud
Under the Mississippi Moon
I'll hammer a beat with a rusty spoon
I'm takin' a ride on a drifting log
The night is clear, cause there ain't no fog
I'll drop a line as I carry a tune
Under the Mississippi Moon
Under the Mississippi Moon
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 John Bennett, All Rights Reserved
She said meet me tonight beneath the Mississippi moon
We arranged to stay late for a midnight rendezvous
Romance was in the air
We laid our souls bare
Underneath the Mississippi Mississippi moon
We wouldn't let the night to end too soon
We fell in love under the Mississippi moon
Buttermilk orb shining on two shadows bellow
While on the veranda we danced the Tango
You peaked under my mask
Love’s spell on us was cast
Underneath the Mississippi Mississippi moon
Basking in the glow of the night’s solitude
We made in love under the Mississippi moon
Stars scattered like sequins on your black velvet dress
Love shines in your eyes my words hardly can express
It’s impossible to keep
Both feet on the ground
Underneath the Mississippi Mississippi moon
We wouldn't let the night to end too soon
We fell in love under the Mississippi moon
Light shines from above and the water below
Like a rocket to the stars that keeps our hearts aglow
We wrote our love song
It took us all night long
Underneath the Mississippi Mississippi moon
My whole world now orbits around you
Since we fell in love under the Mississippi moon
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Doyle Turner, All Rights Reserved
current pulled and curved
through the reds and yellows
fall brought a knowing
you were more than I deserved
sunlight fell away
to my pulse gone rising
like the seasons flyin
put my heart in play
[Chorus]
we lost track of time, lost track of ourselves
lost to the current, overwhelm
by the light of that
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
Like a fierce spring flood
in a rush we’re carried
over the levee
you are settled in my mud
[Repeat chorus]
rising full right were we are
orbit slow round this new star
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
[Repeat chorus]
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Steve Cassavant, All Rights Reserved
Emmitt Till was just 14 when he walked into the country store
In the town of Money Mississippi on that fateful day
He was accused of the crime of being friendly, that and nothing more
For flirting with a white woman, so they say
The men folk grabbed him, tortured and shot him and dragged him down to the shore
Into the muddy Tallahatchie they just threw him away
His precious life was taken too soon
‘Neath the ghostly glow of the Mississippi Moon
[Chorus]
I pray to God that someday we’ll know
That peace will be coming soon
No more to be haunted by the ghostly glow
Of the Mississippi Moon
To help the good folks of Neshoba County register to vote
In ‘64 the Freedom Riders came to town
Cheny, Goodman, and Schwerner were the three who brought them hope
They were there to spread democracy all around
But then the KKK came and snatched them away and tied them up with rope
Then shot them in the head and chucked them in the ground
Each life was gone with a flash and a boom
‘Neath the ghostly glow of the Mississippi Moon
[Repeat chorus]
What will it take before we learn?
How can we heal while crosses burn?
We must work together to lift this shroud of gloom
To end the ghostly glow of the Mississippi Moon
Emmitt Till, Cheny, Goodman, and Schwerner – say their names
Martin Luther King Jr and Medgar Evers – say their names
Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice – say their names
Ahmaud Arbery and Philando Castille – say their names
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor – say their names
And the thousands more forgotten souls – say their names
[Repeat chorus]
No more to be haunted by the ghostly glow
Of the Mississippi Moon
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Paula Wilson, All Rights Reserved
Walked this bridge ‘bout a hundred times
Came here tonight, to clear my mind, and my
Steps are slow cuz I walk alone
I feel this hole, inside my soul
But the light reflecting on the river, brings a message for me
Mississippi Moon, filled my heart with hope, that night in June
Mississippi moon, you’re my sign, my love is coming soon
Mississippi moon, Mississippi moon
Walk this bridge with my lover new
Looking for clues, willl he be true, and he
Holds me tight this cool summer night
There in his eyes I see the sky
And the light reflecting on the river brings a message for me
Repeat chorus
Walk this bridge it’s our wedding night
I’m his he’s mine, our hearts combined, and our
Steps are slow cuz we walk alone
He fills that hole, inside my soul
And the light reflecting on the river brings a message for us
[Chorus 2]
Mississippi Moon, filled our hearts with hope, that night in June
Mississippi moon, you’re our sign, we’ll grow a family soon
Mississippi moon, Mississippi moon
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Mary Kealy-Falk, All Rights Reserved
I was sitting on the bank of the Mississippi River
On the day my Daddy died, watching the water flowing down the way
Well, he left us way too young and he left me way too soon
I looked up at the sky and I started to pray
I said Daddy, please tell me, what am I supposed to do
As the moon shined above so silently
Then I saw my Daddy’s smile, and I knew I wasn’t alone
I knew where my Daddy would always be
[Chorus]
Well I saw my Daddy’s smile in the Mississippi Moon
Shining down on me from the place that he calls home
And when I see my Daddy’s smile in the Mississippi Moon
I know I will never be alone
Now when I ‘m sad and lonely sitting by the Mississippi River
Watching the river flowing and letting it take me wherever it goes
And when the sun goes down and the evening stars are shining
And the sky lights up and shows the full moon’s glow
I say Daddy, please tell me what am I supposed to do
As the moon looks down on me so silently
But then I see my Daddy’s smile in the Mississippi Moon
And I know that’s where Daddy will always be
[Repeat chorus]
I asked again, oh Daddy, please tell me what to do
And I hear my Daddy’s voice say tenderly
Be everything you are and when it comes to pass
Become everything you were meant to be
[Repeat chorus]
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Steve Cassavant, All Rights Reserved
[Chorus]
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
This is my song called Mississippi Moon
As a songwriting challenge I had to come up with a tune
And the title had be Mississippi Moon
When I first saw the theme I thought “oh great
Now here’s something of which I cannot relate”
What am I supposed to do with this?
I’ve never even been to ‘Ol Miss
At first I wrote about a couple In June
Who fell in love ‘neath the Mississippi Moon
By and by, she passed away, and still after twenty years
Every time he looks up at the moon his eyes are filled with tears
The more I wrote, the sappier it got
I just abandoned it … at least I gave it a shot
[Repeat chorus]
What gives Mississippi the right the claim the moon as their own?
There are lots of other places where it’s been known to have shown
Who said it was theirs? Was there a public notice?
Are there any documents signed by POTUS
Who designated it Mississippi moon? Was it Galileo or just some random guy
Or someone on the Wabasha bridge flashing his butt to the boats going by
[Repeat chorus]
I decided I’d look out on the net
To see what other ideas I could get
But every Google search gave me the same old hit
“Oh Black Water keep on rollin’ Mississippi Moon won’t you keep on shinin’ on me” But that didn’t help me a bit
Now it’s time for the obligatory chord progression:
One, Five, Six, One, Two
I said One, Five, Six, One, Two
[Repeat chorus]
Mississippi Moon, Mississippi Moon
Here’s the end of my song called Mississippi Moon
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Kristine Vlaich, Lyrics-All Rights Reserved
Mississippi Moon how I’d look up at you
How I’d glow
I wondered and dreamed in your shadow
What would my future be, rosy red or blue?
Summers staring in the mirror in my room
Wasting away the hot day
Shooing family away
I’d look up to my Mississippi moon
I’d ask him, what will happen to me and will it be real soon
Will I be rich and famous, always talking on the phone?
Or will I be old and sad and all alone
I hope I’m pretty and happy in youths’ full bloom
Mississippi Moon: ©2020 Kristine Vlaich, Lyrics-All Rights Reserved
Fires in California, Washington and Oregon are burning
Haze overhead
Smoke we dread
Minneapolis is churning
Thinking about the North Shore
Water and sky are clear and calm
Want to move up there, a soothing balm
Want to move there ever more
Reminiscing when the Mississippi moon was high in the sky
Friends together in the sun
Loud music, fights with a water gun
Watermelon cooling, watching for snakes, skinny dips, so much fun
all the rules we worked hard to defy
Under the Mississippi moon
Met someone, snuggled under a tree
Felt so young and free
Sneaking out late at night, needing to see you soon
Watching out for snakes, keeping dogs close and tight
Mom and Dad somehow knew
When we left and took some brew
Though we always left before sunlight
We wanted to be together the entire night
Not much to do under strict Mississippi rule
We were just trying to act older and cool
Go fishing, talk about life, we became pretty tight
Mississippi Moon looking up at you
I miss those days, family and friends
How much I loved y’all, we should make amends
Days are shorter and time flies, no one knows when their time is through
Congratulations Again to Our Writers!
Be sure to give the above writers a virtual high five next time you see them, or take a minute to e-mail them from our Artist's Profile page. Let them know how you appreciated their creative work
If you're interested in joining us in a writing challenge, we'll be offering our MAS 2020 Fall Co-Writing Challenge in October. Watch for the announcement to sign up for it.
