30 miles off the Gulf Stream, I hear the south wind moan
Bridges getting lower, the shrimp boats coming 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 morning, 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

30 miles off the Gulf Stream, I hear the south wind moan
Bridges getting lower, the shrimp boats coming 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

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