From the recording Can't Remember The Last Time
Lyrics
Perpetual Afternoon
By Jeffrey C. Capps
So this is Mississippi
Good day, ma’am, how do you do
If I say it with a drawl and add a well-placed y’all
Could I win your heart
Everyone’s got a place
Front porch men and even boys like me
If I stay here a few days and things work out OK
Could I make a new start
And we run around town in perpetual afternoon
And the creatures I’ve never seen seem to always sing in-tune
When the sun gets low and makes way for the moon
There’s a calmness in the air like I never knew
But I ain’t scared
No, sir, I didn’t mean no harm
Or to make nobody mad
I just opened up the door, walked into your store
And tried to be myself
Now we’re a long ways from Chicago
And getting further, I feel sure
You may think I’m rude and wild
But I’m still my mama’s child
Not that you can tell
And we ride around town in perpetual afternoon
And the front seat voices of front porch men all laugh in-tune
When the sun gets low and makes way for the moon
There’s a calmness in the air like I never knew
And I feel scared
So this is Mississippi
And how my story ends
With a bullet in my head, a metal fan around my neck
In a riverbed
And all this crying can’t be just for me
I was a kid who broke the rules, made up by fools
Pray for them instead
Still they ride around town in perpetual afternoon
Their secrets are safe, their alibis recited in perfect tune
Just a little black kid who it seems nobody knew
But woe to the souls who got to live with the truth
But I ain’t scared, ‘cuz I’m going home
I ain’t scared, ‘cuz I’m coming home
I ain’t scared