"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" is a song written by

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

in 1967 and made famous because of its censorship from ''

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The series was a major success, especially considering it was sched ...

''.

Story

The song tells the story of a

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

wading in a river in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

on a practice patrol in 1942. Imperiously ignoring his sergeant's concerns, the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

orders the platoon to continue with himself in the lead until they are finally up to their necks. Suddenly, the captain drowns and the sergeant instantly orders the unit to turn back to the original shore. It turns out the captain was not aware that the river was deeper with a joining stream upriver. The narrator declines to state an obvious moral but intimates from what he has read in the paper that his nation itself is being led into similar peril by

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...

fools. Each verse ends with a line noting that "the big fool said to push on" except for the final verse, which changes to the present tense, and the fourth verse which says "the captain dead and gone." The story is similar to the

Ribbon Creek incident The Ribbon Creek incident occurred on the night of April 8, 1956, when Staff Sergeant Matthew McKeon, a junior drill instructor at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, marched his assigned platoon into Ribbon Creek, a swam ...

, which occurred in 1956.

Significance

The song was considered symbolic of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

's policy of escalation, then widely seen as pushing the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

deeper into the increasingly unpopular war. Like the Captain's demise, Johnson was eventually forced to abandon plans for re-election due to the war in 1968. The captain's criticism of a dissenting sergeant as a "Nervous Nelly" in the song's third verse appears to mimick Johnson's epithet for critics of the war. Seeger often performed the song at concerts and rallies, and in late 1967 he was invited to perform on the ''

Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy and variety show television show, television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The series was a major success, especially conside ...

''. Seeger chose to perform "Big Muddy," and sang the song on the taping of the CBS show in September, 1967 but CBS management objected to its political tone, and

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

the song prior to broadcast. Following the strong support from the

Smothers Brothers The Smothers Brothers are Thomas ("Tom" – born February 2, 1937) and Richard ("Dick" – born November 20, 1938), American folk singers, musicians, and comedians. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on acoustic gu ...

, the show's hosts, CBS later relented and allowed Seeger to come back and sing the song on the Brothers' February 25, 1968 show. At the time, Seeger was under contract to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, which was owned by CBS, and he had just recorded the song in an album titled ''Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and Other Love Songs''. The broadcast is included on the DVD ''The Best of the Smothers Brothers''.

Cover versions

Richard Shindell Richard Shindell (born August 3, 1960) is an American folk singer, songwriter, producer, and musician. Shindell grew up in Port Washington, New York, and now lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his wife, Lila Caimari, a university professo ...

recorded a cover of this song on his 2005 album ''Vuelta''. The song was covered by

Dick Gaughan Richard Peter Gaughan (born 17 May 1948) is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs. He is regarded as one of Scotland's leading singer-songwriters. Early years Gaughan was born in Glasgow's Roy ...

in his 1997 album ''Sail On''.

John McCutcheon John McCutcheon (born August 14, 1952) is an American folk music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has produced 41 albums since the 1970s. He is regarded as a master of the hammered dulcimer, and is also proficient on many other i ...

covered the song on his 2007 album ''This Fire''.

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

, who would later record an album of Seeger-related songs, used the line "Waist deep in the big muddy" as the chorus for his 1992 song, "Big Muddy." The song was translated into French by

Graeme Allwright Graeme Allwright (7 November 1926 – 16 February 2020) was a New Zealand-born French singer and songwriter. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s as a French language interpreter of the songs of American and Canadian songwriters such as Leona ...

in 1971 under the title "Jusqu'à la ceinture". The song was translated into Russian by

Alexander Dolsky Alexander Alexandrovich Dolsky ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович До́льский, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈdolʲskʲɪj, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Dol'skiy.oga; born on July 7, 1938) is a Soviet a ...

who performed the song in concerts in the 1980s during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

, which has been referred to as the "Soviet Union's Vietnam." The song was released on a 1988 LP "Landscape in a frame", later reissued on CD.

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American mu ...

's song " Deja Vu (All Over Again)" makes reference to the "Big Muddy". The song was translated into Japanese in 2015 under the title "Koshi made Doro mamire".

References

External links

Lyrics and Seeger's account of the song's composition and original television appearance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waist Deep In The Big Muddy 1967 songs Pete Seeger songs Songs of the Vietnam War Protest songs Songs written by Pete Seeger Anti-war songs Songs about rivers Songs about soldiers Columbia Records singles

Story

Significance

Cover versions

See also

References

External links