Thirty miles out in the Gulf Stream I can hear those south winds moan
The bridges are lookin' lower shrimp boats hurryin' home
The old man down in the quarter slowly turns to me
Took another sip of whiskey then he looked at me and said:
Man, I was born in the rain by the Pontchartrain
Beneath that Louisiana moon
Don't mind the strain of a hurricane
She come's 'round every June
And high black water she's the devil's daughter
She's hard and she's cold and she's mean
Nobody's taught her that it takes a lot of water
To wash away New Orleans
A man come down from Chicago gonna set that levee right
He said it's got to be three feet high up or it won't make it through the night
The old man down in the quarter said don't you listen to that boy
The water be down by the mornin' son he'll be on his way back to Illinois
Man, I was born in the rain by the Pontchartrain
Beneath that Louisiana moon
Don't mind the strain of a hurricane
She come's around every June
And high black water she's the devil's daughter
She's hard and she's cold and she's mean
But we finally taught her that it takes a lot of water
To wash away New Orleans