Along the Mississippi

Grew up in a factory town with the water towers looking down On the railroad tracks and broken backs that built it The highways ran past paper mills and liquor bottles lined the windowsills Where we all looked out at the dreams that we were chasing All along the Mississippi Along the Mississippi Got high on the Mississippi We made love on the Mississippi My father worked as a prison guard He worked long, he worked hard Swallowing pride so that I could survive All along the Mississippi Along the Mississippi Got high on the Mississippi We made love on the Mississippi Well the snow came late in the Fall I was a long-haired boy with my back to the wall With an old piano to keep for company With an old piano to keep for company All along the Mississippi Along the Mississippi We got high on the Mississippi We made love on the Mississippi Float down on the Mississippi Drown on the Mississippi We got high on the Mississippi We made love on the Mississippi