Thirty miles off the Gulf Stream
I hear the south wind moan
The bridges gettin' lower
The shrimp boats comin' home

But the old man down in the Quarter
Slowly turns his head
Takes a sip from his whiskey bottle and
This is what he said

"I was born in the rain on the Pontchartrain
Underneath the Louisiana moon
I don't mind the strain of a hurricane
It comes around every June
The high black water, the devil's daughter
She's hard and she's cold and she's mean
But nobody taught her it takes a lot of water
To wash away New Orleans"

A man came down from Chicago
He's gonna set that levee right
He said, "It needs to be at least three feet higher
Or it won't make it through the night"

But the old man down in the Quarter
Said, "Don't you listen to that boy
The water'll be down by the mornin'
And he'll be back to Illinois"

And I was born in the rain on the Pontchartrain
Underneath the Louisiana moon
I don't mind the strain of a hurricane
It comes around every June
The high black water, the devil's daughter
She's hard and she's cold and she's mean
But nobody taught her it takes a lot of water
To wash away New Orleans

Thirty miles off the Gulf Stream
I hear the south wind moan
The bridges gettin' lower
The shrimp boats comin' home

But the old man down in the Quarter
Slowly turns his head
Takes a sip from his whiskey bottle and
This is what he said

I was born in the rain on the Pontchartrain
Underneath the Louisiana moon
I don't mind the strain of a hurricane
It comes around every June
The high black water, the devil's daughter
She's hard and she's cold and she's mean
But nobody taught her it takes a lot of water
To wash away New Orleans
And I was born in the rain on the Pontchartrain
Underneath the Louisiana moon
I don't mind the strain of a hurricane
It comes around every June
The high black water, the devil's daughter
She's hard and she's cold and she's mean
But nobody taught her it takes a lot of water
To wash away New Orleans

But nobody taught her it takes a lot of water
To wash away New Orleans