Sweet Keep

by Erin Z. Bass

As I was eating lunch today and listening to the local public radio station, KRVS 88.7, I heard a mention of “Deep South,” and my ears perked up. It turned out to be the name of Mississippi native and Lafayette, Louisiana, slide guitar legend Sonny Landreth‘s song the station was about to play. I’d never heard the song before and after I finished eating, looked up the lyrics.

The last song on Landreth’s 2000 Sugar Hill release, Levee Town, which also includes “The U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile” and “Soul Salvation,” “Deep South” talks about pirate Jean Lafitte’s buried treasure and the spell of the “sweet keep” of the Deep South. On his website, Landreth explains what what the “sweet keep” is and why he placed “Deep South” as the last track on the album:

“The ‘sweet keep’ is a protection, something or someone looking out for you. Like the last songs on both ‘Outward Bound’ and ‘South of I-10,’ I wanted the last track for this album to offer an affirmation. To ‘follow your bliss,’ as Joseph Campbell used to say, is to feel the magic that surrounds us with every moment, to put the static of everyday routine on pause and count blessings.”

Below are the complete lyrics for “Deep South.” You can also listen to the song here.

Deep South
by Sonny Landreth

Caught wind of the legend when we were kids on the banks of the Gulf Coast
About the pirate gold left hidden here way back ago
Then in a rage, Hurricane Audry, she blew down the secret of the sheltering oak
They found Captain Lafitte’s buried treasure, yeah anything goes
In the Deep South

We drive close tonight to that very site on Lake Peigneur road
Past the tin top shacks that shimmer with the corrugated waves from the glow
Of a howling moon I’m soon to realize I must oblige
Especially with the wild blue yonder that I’m seeing in your eyes

I tell you, Azalea
When they lay me down, child
I’ll still be under the spell of
The sweet keep of the Deep South
The Deep South

Like a chef on a mission in the kitchen with seductive recipes
Let the spice in my life be the magic that surrounds and entices me
Like when you feed the juke box all my silver at Maison Creole
Till we feel the levitation of the dance floor down in our soles

I tell you, Azalea
When they lay me down, child
I’ll still be under the spell of
The sweet keep of the Deep South
The Deep South

Now, only our eyes can follow the trail of serpentine smoke
From the bonfire under the stars for the blessing of the boats
You know, a healer in the swamp said the stars guide us back and forth
Like campfires burning on a steep and distant shore

I tell you, Azalea
When they lay me down, child
I’ll still be under the spell of
The sweet keep of the Deep South
The Deep South

Sonny Landreth photo by Jack Spencer.