h2o mp3: Muddy Water from Big River (the musical)

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The Broadway musical Big River was based on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and won a Tony Award for Best Musical in 1985. (If one of the too-infrequent revival productions stops in your town, don’t miss it!)

The exuberant song Muddy River comes in Act One, when Huck offers to help Jim reach the North and gain freedom from slavery. With a posse in hot pursuit, they shove off on their raft onto the mighty Mississippi.

Lyrics:
Look out for me, oh muddy water
your mysteries are deep and wide
and I got a need for going someplace
and I got a need to climb upon your back and ride

Play the track
[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/08-muddy-water.mp3]

Download Muddy Water – Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Low-fi 64 kbps Mp3 file for sampling.
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h2o mp3: Cool Water: Fleetwood Mac

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Classic old cowboy tune about hallucinating in the desert. (FYI–the “Dan” in this song is our lone hero’s mule!) Cool Water was written in 1936 by Bob Nolan and has been covered by dozens of artists, including Hank Williams, Marty Robbins, Slim Whitman, Bob Dylan, even the Muppets! This version is from 1982 by Fleetwood Mac.

Lyrics:

The shadows sway and seem to say
tonight we pray for water,
Cool water.
And way up there He’ll hear our prayer
and show us where there’s water,
Cool, clear water.

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/cool-water.mp3]

Download Cool Water – Fleetwood Mac
Low-fi 64 kbps Mp3 file for sampling.
(Sorry, no purchase links–this track not found at iTunes, Amazon.com or other sources.)

h2o mp3: Somethin’ in the Water: Th’ Legendary Shack-Shakers

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2006 rockabilly anarchy over industrial pollution. In a recent interview frontman JD Wilkes explained what this song is about:

The Union Carbide nuclear facility in Paducah KY has leaked toxic waste into the water supply for years, come to find out…producing mutations in its employees. And not far from that site, is where one of the first American school-shootings occurred. Coincidence? I think not.

Lyrics:
They put somethin’ in the water
somethin’ weird in the water
killin’ your sisters and your brothers
somthin’ in the cold, cold water

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/somethin-in-the-water.mp3]

Download Somethin’ in the Water – Th’ Legendary Shack-Shakers | band website
Low-fi 64 kbps Mp3 file for sampling.
Like it? Support the people who make music. Buy this track at iTunes or Amazon.com

h2o mp3: You Don’t Miss Your Water: William Bell

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Sweet old Soul with fabulous flow. William Bell is still making music today but is best known for this 1961 B-side hit from the beginning of his career. (He actually wrote the song to express feeling homesick, not losing in love!) Lyrics:

But now you’ve left me
Oh! how I cry
You don’t miss your water
Till the well runs dry

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/you-dont-miss-your-water.mp3]

Download You Don’t Miss Your Water – William Bell
Low-fi 64 kbps Mp3 file for sampling.
Like it? Support the people who make music. Buy this track at iTunes or Amazon.com.

h2o mp3: When Water Comes to Life – Cloud Cult

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A sweeping, vaguely cinematic alt tune that’s hard to classify but oddly hypnotic, from a band who’ve earned their “green” stripes. Lyrics:

And when they burn your body, all thats left is sand crystals, two tiny handfuls, all the rest is water, water, water; All you need to know is you were born of water, you are made of water, you are living water, water, water

Play the track
[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/when-water-comes-to-life.mp3]

Download When Water Comes to Life – Cloud Cult
Low-fi 64 kbps Mp3 file for sampling.
Like it? Support the people who make music. Buy this track at iTunes or Amazon.com.