Well I spent the better part of my life on a Mississippi riverboat
I used to be known from coast to coast as the slickest gambler afloat
I've dealt the cards from Minnesota to the harbor in New Orleans
I made a lotta big money on the riverboat I loved a lotta pretty riverboat queens
Riverboat riverboat I love your whistle's wail
I wish I was back on the riverboart stead of in the Memphis jail

Oh a big man got on the riverboat our last time in St Paul
He had a lotta money but his luck went bad and the riverboat won it all
He said I dealt from the bottom of the deck and he pulled a shiny knife
But before that gambler lunged at me my 44 took his life
Riverboat riverboat...

Well they came on the boat and they took me to jail when we got to Tennessee
A gamblin' man has very few friends guess nobody cared for me
So I might be here for a many long years but if I ever get out
I'm gonna head straight for that levee and get me
S riverboat headin' south
Riverboat riverboat...
Stead of in the Memphis jail