You will see my muddy waters
When you arrive at Southwest Pass
Take a pilot up the river
Where the fishing nets are cast
Past marshy swamps and lowland
Traverse my twists and bends
I’m the river Mississippi
From the Delta I ascend
Proud to be this long and wide
Louisiana to Minnesota
Soul of America and its pride
From Illinois to Iowa
Water slaps my sandy shallows
Breeze ruffles restless pines
I’m the river Mississippi
Glow in Cajun moonshine
Once that rascal Huckleberry Finn
Rowed downstream on a raft
Mark Twain worked the steamboats
Where gamblers cursed ‘n’ laughed
Sailed by cotton pickin’ towns
Tales of Louisiana
On the banks of the Mississippi
Grew small-town Americana
I wander and meander slow
Pass many cities and towns
Allow tugs and river barges
To sail up and down
From St. Louis to Memphis
Under my bridges pass
I’m the river Mississippi
With banks of wild grass
Beware of eddies off Algiers Point
As you pass New Orleans
Watch Canal Street’s festivals
Hear music light up the scene
As the fog suddenly descends
You can hear the engines pound
On the river Mississippi
The foghorns begin to sound
Hurricane Katrina attacked me
Broke my levees and my dams
But could not kill my spirit
Churning I still stand
Been here for a thousand years
They call me Ol’ Man River
I’m the river Mississippi
Gotta go on forever…
The River Mississippi
