Natchez Number Six

Natchez number six

I was standing on the banks of the river; peering out into the endless night.
Wondering what was on that chilly water. I could hear a noise but I couldn’t see a light.
I peered into the center of that grey mist a rising; wondering what this noise could be.
Somewhere out there in that foggy darkness I could hear the boat-swains bell faintly ring.

As I stood there on the banks of the river I could heard a distant foghorn blow.
But; the fog was so thick out there on the water that I couldn’t see the lights on the other shore.
Then I heard the splashing of a paddlewheel turning, and I heard the steam engines whine
Jefferson Davis was going to Montgomery; and the Natchez number six had to be on time.

The south has just declared that we are a nation, and separate from the northern states.
Jefferson Davis has just been chosen to be our president and try to lead the way.

I’ve been waiting here on the banks of this river hoping that somehow I’d get a look
He’s going to Montgomery to be inaugurated and I want to record it on the pages of a book

I heard the old men say there’s going to be war, and; we’re all headed for a judgemant day.
There’s gonna be trouble over at Fort Sumter. It’s gonna be bad and we’ll all have to pay.
I think that I’ll name the book the final cessation; so it’s necessary that I get it right
I just saw the Natchez coming into view and disappearing now into the foggy night

I found these words written on a ledger in a old leather trunk that my mother left to me.
It was signed on the bottom by someone named Morgan. I think he was part of my mama’s family
I’ve heard it said that the northern aggression; fought a war of kin against kin
And all through the south you can hear the old men say that one day the south Is gonna again