For more of my random posts on random topics (PSAs, Ads, music, miscellany), click HERE:
Mississippi Squirrel Revival
performed by Ray Stevens
written by Cyrus “Buddy” Kalb, Carlene Kalb
released December 1984
Verse 1
Well when I was kid I’d take a trip
Every summer
Down to Mississippi
To visit my granny in her ante bellum world
I’d run barefooted all day long
Climbing trees free as a song
One day I happened catch myself a squirrel
I stuffed him down in an old shoebox
Punched a couple holes in the top and when Sunday came
I snuck him into church
I was sittin way back in the very last pew
Showin him to my good buddy Hugh
When that squirrel got loose
And went totally berserk!
Well what happened next is hard to tell
Some thought it was Heaven others thought it was Hell
But the fact that something was among us
Was plain to see
As the choir sang “I Surrender All”
The squirrel ran up Harv Newlan’s coveralls
Harv leaped to his feet and said
“Somethin’s got a hold on me! YEOW!”
Chorus
The day the squirrel went berserk
In the First Self-Righteous Church
In that sleepy little town of Pascagoula
It was a fight for survival
That broke out in revival
They were jumpin pews and shouting Hallelujah!
Verse 2
Well, Harv hit the aisles dancin’ and screamin’
Some thought he had religion
Others thought he had a demon
And Harv thought he had a weed eater loose in his Fruit-Of-The-Looms
He fell to his knees to plead and beg
And the squirrel ran out of his britches leg
Unobserved, to the other side of the room
All the way down to the amen pew
Where sat Sister Bertha better-than-you
Who’d been watchin’ all the commotion with sadistic glee
But you should’ve seen the look in her eyes
When that squirrel jumped her garters and crossed her thighs
She jumped to her feet and said “Lord have mercy on me”
As the squirrel made laps inside her dress
She began to cry and then to confess to sins that would make a sailor blush with shame
She told of gossip and church dissension but the thing that got the most attention
Was when she talked about her love life
And then she started naming names!
Chorus
The day the squirrel went berserk
In the First Self-Righteous Church
In that sleepy little town of Pascagoula
It was a fight for survival
That broke out in revival
They were jumpin pews and shouting Hallelujah!
Verse 3
Well seven deacons and then the pastor got saved
And 25,000 dollars got raised
And 50 volunteered for missions in the Congo on the spot
And even without an invitation
There were at least 500 rededications
And we all got re-baptized whether we needed it or not
Now you’ve heard the Bible stories I guess
Of how He parted the waters for Moses to pass
All the miracles God has brought to this ol’ world
But the one I’ll remember to my dyin day
Is how he put that church back on the narrow way
With a half-crazed Mississippi squirrel
The day the squirrel went berserk
In the First Self-Righteous Church
Of that sleepy little town of Pascagoula
It was a fight for survival
That broke out in revival
They were jumpin pews and shouting Halelujah!
________________________________
If you grew up in the American South in the latter couple decades of the last millennium, then you probably know of Mr. Ray Stevens. His music was this great homespun blend of comedy, sincerity, and Church. He’s the sort of entertainer that you’d expect to have a long term personal theater in Branson, Missouri (whether he ever did, I do not know.)
I love this guy.
Anyway, when I was young, I used to have a VHS tape of his music videos – which featured hits such as “The Streak” and “Santa Claus is Watchin’ You.” It also included the “Mississippi Squirrel Revival.” Stevens was a unique situation where he wanted to be a “novelty artist” and in my opinion, he absolutely succeeded. (His traditional music is good too.) This song launched him to success. (more via wiki)
“Mississippi Squirrel Revival” is a song by American country music singer Ray Stevens. It is a single from his 1984 album He Thinks He’s Ray Stevens.
Content
A young boy visiting relatives in Pascagoula, Mississippi 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 loose in his Fruit of the Looms“). The rest of the congregation believe he has been possessed, either by a demon or by the Holy Spirit; it is implied that the pastor is inclined to believe it is the latter. In the front pew, “Sister Bertha Better-than-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 begins to confess 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
Chart (1984–85) Peak
positionU.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 20 Canadian RPM Country Tracks 32
I don’t know if a guy like Ray Stevens could succeed in the U.S. today, and that’s a shame. But maybe if a wild animal were set loose in the right place and at the right time, we could see some cultural change for the better.
