Sweet

Melissa Lyrics
ArtistThe Allman Brothers Band

Crossroads, seem to come and go, yeah.
The gypsy flies from coast to coast

Knowing many, loving none,
Bearing sorrow havin' fun,
But back home he'll always run
To sweet Melissa... mmm...

Freight train, each car looks the same, all the same.
And no one knows the Gypsy's name

No one hears his lonely sighs,
There are no blankets where he lies.
In all his deepest dreams the Gypsy flies
with sweet Melissa... mmm...

Again the morning's come,
Again he's on the run,
Sunbeams shining through his hair,
Appearing not to have a care.
Well, pick up your gear and Gypsy roll on, roll on.

Crossroads, will you ever let him go? (Lord, Lord)
Will you hide the dead man's ghost,
Or will he lie, beneath the clay,
or will his spirit float away?

But I know that he won't stay without Melissa.

Yes I know that he won't stay without Melissa.



From Song Facts: http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=830 April 27, 2008

Gregg Allman spoke at length about this song in an interview with the San Luis Obispo (CA) Tribune on November 30, 2006: "I wrote that song in 1967 in a place called the Evergreen Hotel in Pensacola, Florida. By that time I got so sick of playing other people's material that I just sat down and said, 'OK, here we go. One, two, three - we're going to try to write songs.' And about 200 songs later - much garbage to take out - I wrote this song called 'Melissa.' And I had everything but the title. I thought (referring to lyrics): 'But back home, we always run... to sweet Barbara' - no. Diane...? We always run... to sweet Bertha.' No, so I just kind of put it away for a while. So one night I was in the grocery store - it was my turn to go get the tea, the coffee, the sugar and all that other s--t... and there was this Spanish lady there and she had this little toddler with her - this little girl. And I'm sitting there, getting a few things and what have you. And this little girl takes off, running down the aisle. And the lady yells, Oh, Melissa! Melissa, come back, Melissa!' And I went, 'Oh - that's it.' I forgot about half the stuff I went for, I went back home and, man, it was finished, only I couldn't really tell if it was worth a damn or not because I'd written so many bad ones. So I didn't really show it to anybody for about a year. And then I was the last one to get to Jacksonville - I was the last one to join the band that became the Allman Brothers. And my brother sometimes late at night after dinner, he'd say, 'Man, go get your guitar and play me that song - that song about that girl.' And I'd play it for him every now and then. After my brother's accident, we had 3 vinyl sides done of Peach, so I thought well we'll do that, and then on the way down there I wrote "Ain't Wastin' Time No More." I wrote that for my brother. We were all in pretty bad shape. I had just gotten back from Jamaica and I was weighing at about 156, 6-foot-1-and-a-half - I was pretty skinny. So we went back down there, got in the studio and finished the record. And the damn thing shipped gold." (thanks, Peaceboy - Someplace, CA)

This was first recorded in 1968 by the 31st Of February, one of Gregg and Duane Allman's first bands. Duane's version of this with the 31st Of February is the first recording of him playing the bottleneck slide guitar, a technique he became famous for.
Gregg Allman got some help on this song from Sandy Alaimo, who was operating the studio they used.
The part of the song that begins: "Crossroads, will you ever let him go" is probably a reference to Robert Johnson, a Blues legend who supposedly went to a crossroads and sold his soul to the devil.
This was one of the first songs the band recorded without Duane Allman. He died in a motorcycle accident about 4 months before this was released. Eat A Peach was dedicated to Duane.
The Allman Brothers performed this on the last episode of the syndicated Dennis Miller Show on July 25, 1992.
The band performed this at Duane Allman's funeral in 1971.
This was never a big hit in the US, but it has endured as a regular on classic rock radio.