At first Mom and Poppa called the little girl a lady They raised her on the banks of a river bed A house boat tied to a big tall tree A home for my poppa and my momma and me The clock strikes three Poppa jumps to his fee Already Moma's cookin' Poppa somethin' to eat At half past Poppa he's a ready to go, he jumps in His pirogue headed down the bayou He's got fishin' line strung across the Louisiana River Got to catch a big fish for us to eat He's settin' his traps catchin' anything he can Gotta make a livin' he's a Louisiana man,gotta make A livin' he's a Louisiana man Muskrat hides hangin' by the dozen, Even got a little bitty muskrat cousin Got 'em out dryin' in the hot hot sun, Tomorrow Poppa's gone turn em into money They call Moma Rita and my Daddy Jack, My little baby brother on the floor that's Mac, Rhett and Lynn are the family twins, Big brother Eddie's on the bayou fishin' On the river floats Poppa's great big boat That's how me and Poppa get in to town It takes every bit of a night and day to even reach A place where the people stay Oh I can hardly wait until tomorrow comes around That's the day my Poppa takes the furs to town Poppa done promised me that I could go He'd even let me see a cowboy show I saw the cowboys and Indians for the first time then I told my Poppa "gotta go again" but Poppa says "Hon we got lines to run, We'll have to come again, 'Cause there's work to be done." He's got fishin' line strung across the Louisiana River Got a catch a big fish for us to eat He's settin' his traps catchin' anything he can Gotta make a livin' he's a Louisiana man Gotta make a livin' he's a Louisiana man Poppa done promised me that I could go He'd even let me see the cowboy show I saw the cowboys and indians for the first time then I told my Poppa "Gotta go again" but Poppa said "Hon, we got lines to run, We'll have to come again, 'Cause there's work to be done." He's got fishin' line strung across the Louisiana River Got a catch a big fish for us to eat He's settin' his traps catchin' anything he can Gotta make a livin' he's a Louisiana man Gotta make a livin' he's a Louisiana man