Headed down south to the land of the pines

And I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline

Starin' up the road

Pray to God I see headlights



I made it down the coast in seventeen hours

Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers

And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh

I can see my baby tonight



So rock me mama like a wagon wheel

Rock me mama anyway you feel

Hey mama rock me

Rock me mama like the wind and the rain

Rock me mama like a south-bound train

Hey mama rock me



Runnin' from the cold up in New England

I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time stringband

My baby plays the guitar

I pick a banjo now



Oh, the North country winters keep a gettin' me now

Lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave

But I ain't a turnin' back

To livin' that old life no more



So rock me mama like a wagon wheel

Rock me mama anyway you feel

Hey mama rock me

Rock me mama like the wind and the rain

Rock me mama like a south-bound train

Hey mama rock me



Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke

I caught a trucker out of Philly

Had a nice long toke

But he's a headed west from the Cumberland Gap

To Johnson City, Tennessee



And I gotta get a move on before the sun

I hear my baby callin' my name

And I know that she's the only one

And if I die in Raleigh

At least I will die free



So rock me mama like a wagon wheel

Rock me mama anyway you feel

Hey mama rock me

Rock me mama like the wind and the rain

Rock me mama like a south-bound train

Hey mama rock me