Album version
Billy had a mistress down on A and 12th
She was that little something that he did for himself
His own little secret didn't hurt nobody
Come the afternoon he'd take her wading
Waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
You start out standing but end up crawling, sonny
Got in some trouble and needed a hand from a friend of mine
This old friend had a figure in mind
It was nothing illegal, just a little bit funny
He said "C'mon don't tell me that the rich don't know, sonny
Sooner or later it all comes down to money"
And you're waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
You start on higher ground but end up crawling, sonny
Whoa!
Well I had a friend, said "You watch what you do
Poison snake bites you and you're poison too"
Well how beautiful the river flows and the birds they sing
But you and I we're messier things
There ain't no one leaving this world, buddy
Without their shirttail dirty or hands a little bloody
Waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
You start on higher ground but end up somehow crawling, sonny
Waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
Woo whoa
Woo
THE BIG MUDDY is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 1992 album Lucky Town. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's album version of THE BIG MUDDY as released in 1992.
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As he did with GAVE IT A NAME, Springsteen borrowed the line "Poison snake bites you and you're poison too" from Pete Dexter's novel Paris Trout.
The Human Touch recording sessions were completed by early 1991 and the album was planned to be released in the spring of that year. However Bruce Springsteen decided to hold off the release and he continued to write more songs during the spring and summer of 1991. The recording sessions for what later became Lucky Town spanned a period of about five months, from late summer 1991 to very early 1992. It would appear that they began in September 1991 at Springsteen's Los Angeles home studio and were then augmented at A&M Studios later in 1991. Chuck Plotkin has implied that about 15 songs were complete during this session period, which means there are likely only a handful of undocumented songs from these sessions still in the vaults. These mid to late 1991 sessions were not originally intended to produce a stand-alone album — the songs were meant to be added to the ones recorded in 1990 and then the complete body of material would be sieved to produce one album. However, Springsteen unusually decided to release two different albums, Human Touch and Lucky Town, at the same time.
Lucky Town was recorded between September 1991 and January 1992 at Thrill Hill West (Springsteen's home studio in Los Angeles, CA) and A&M Studios in Los Angeles, CA. The album was recorded by Toby Scott, mixed by Bob Clearmountain, and mastered by Bob Ludwig. It was produced by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, and Chuck Plotkin. Roy Bittan is credited as a fourth co-producer of tracks 05, 06, and 07. Lucky Town was released on Columbia Records on 31 Mar 1992, the same day as Human Touch.
Lucky Town features 10 tracks and clocks at 39:38.
Other versions of THE BIG MUDDY were also officially released.
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As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's THE BIG MUDDY.
List of available versions of THE BIG MUDDY on this website:
THE BIG MUDDY [Album version]
