"Mississippi Squirrel Revival" is a song by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer
Ray Stevens
Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...
. It is a single from his 1984 album ''
He Thinks He's Ray Stevens
''He Thinks He's Ray Stevens'' was Ray Stevens' twenty-first studio album and his first for MCA Records, released in 1984. The front of the album cover shows Stevens spoofing French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. It was recorded in an effort to reest ...
''.
Content
A young boy visiting relatives in
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22 ...
catches a wild squirrel, which he sneaks into the First Self-Righteous Church during a Sunday service. When the squirrel escapes his box, it heads into the overalls of one of the other parishioners, who jumps in shock and discomfort (thinking "he had a
Weed Eater
Weed Eater is a string trimmer company founded in 1971 in Houston, Texas by George C. Ballas, Sr., the inventor of the device.
The idea for the Weed Eater trimmer came to him from the spinning nylon bristles of an automatic car wash. He thought ...
loose in his
Fruit of the Loom
Fruit of the Loom is an American company that manufactures clothing, particularly casual wear and underwear. The company's world headquarters is in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since 2002 it has been a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.
Products manu ...
s"). The rest of the congregation believe he has been possessed, either by a demon or by the
Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
; it is implied that the pastor is inclined to believe it is the latter. In the front pew, "Sister Bertha Better-N-You," a
holier-than-thou parishioner who had been watching the previous incident "with
sadistic glee," panics when the squirrel suddenly runs into her dress. In terror, she breaks down in tears and commences confessing all of her sins, including "naming names" of paramours that bring embarrassment to the whole church. Following the ordeal, the church experiences a sudden renewal-revival and a wave of baptisms, rededications, increased tithes, and volunteers to go on foreign missions. The now-adult singer reflects on the incident as an example of one of God's miracles.
History
Originally, "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" was not intended to be a single, but it was rush-released when various radio stations began playing it. Stevens felt that its release would help re-establish him as a novelty artist after several albums mostly composed of serious material. Stevens felt that novelty music was experiencing a revival in the middle 1980s after a period in the early 1980s where it was not as popular.
As with many other Stevens songs, a music video was produced several years later, with the songwriters in prominent roles;
Cyrus "Buddy" Kalb played the squirrel's first target.
Chart performance
References
External links
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1984 singles
MCA Records singles
Ray Stevens songs
Novelty songs
Songs about mammals
Songs about Mississippi