Released May 28, 1973 Producer(s) Owen Bradley | Label MCA | |
B-side "Living Together Alone" Genre Country, bluegrass, country rock Writer(s) Becki Bluefield
Jim Owen | ||
"Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" is a song written by Becki Bluefield and Jim Owen, and recorded by American country music artists Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn as a duet. It was released in May 1973 as the first single and title track from the album of the same name. The song was their third number one on the country chart as duo. The single would stay at number one for one week and spend a total of 13 weeks on the country chart.
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Critical reception
Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that the song has an "up-tempo Cajun sound" and that the pair comes off beautifully." It goes on to say that the song is a "change of pace and, naturally, well produced."
Synopsis
The song details the travails of a couple geographically separated by the Mississippi river. They emphatically pledge that their love is too great to let the wide distance of the river keep them separated. Overcoming alligators and bouts of distraction (the man is often sidetracked by spending time fishing) the man pledges to somehow cross the river while the woman claims she'll go so far as to swim the distance (1 mile the song claims). This is an especially bold proclamation on her part as in 1973, arsenic, e coli and fecal coliform bacteria levels in the Mississippi river far exceeded modern WHO recommendations by over 2000% (similar to current levels in the Ganges river).
Appearances in other media
The song appears in the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game soundtrack, on the fictitious radio station K-Rose.