Rosco Bandana

Download “Feels Like Mississippi” Free

In 2000, former Mississippi state Senator Billy Hewes introduced a bill calling for a competition to find a new state song to replace Mississippi’s official song “Go Mississippi” (adopted by state legislature in 1962). He renewed his push for a new song in a November interview with the Clarion Ledger.

“We’ve got world−recognized talent. Get Faith Hill, B.B. King, Rosco Bandana − heck, get 3 Doors Down or Super Chikan − we can come up with something better,” said Hewes.

Since then, in a continued effort to change the state song Senator Robert L. Jackson has introduced two additional state song bills, one proposing to change the state song entirely and the other proposing to adopt a second state song.

Rosco Bandana heeded the call. The band was speeding between dates on I-10, but when they heard their home state of Mississippi needed their help they pulled over to a rest area and wrote the song on the spot at the side of the road and sent an iPhone recording of it to their label.

Upon returning to their hometown of Gulfport, MS after the December tour, the band took time over the holidays to record what they hope to be the new rallying cry of the state they proudly call home.

“Mississippi means so much to the band,” singer/guitarist Jason Sanford said. “We hope to bring a little bit of Mississippi to every town we play in, no matter where we are. And that’s why this opportunity means so much.”

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“Feels Like Mississippi” Lyrics:

Verse:
Back roads and old cane poles
All we got is our beautiful souls
Shinin’ like the Gulf of Mexico
We hold our heads up high ya see
As a beacon of hospitality
Our difference is our greatest strength

Chorus:
And we’ve come through the darkest hour
We found love was our greatest power
And Mississippi pride is what drove us on
It feels like comin’ home

Verse:
From Tylertown to Tupelo
You’re gonna find some folks who know
Catfish and cotton ain’t all we grow
If they say the southland is all the same
That we’re all still runnin a backwards game
Just take a little trip to a place with an old name