Lyrics:

(Bill Anderson)

Well, I spent the better part of
My life on a Mississippi riverboat
I used to be known from coast to coast
Ss the slickest gambler afloat.

I've dealt the cards from Minnesota
To the harbor at New Orleans
Made a lotta big money on the riverboat
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.

--- Instrumental ---

Well, 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 forty-four took his life.

Riverboat, riverboat
I love your whistle's wail
I wish I was back on the riverboart
'Stead of in the Memphis jail.

--- Instrumental ---

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.

Well, 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 a riverboat headin' south.

Riverboat, riverboat
I love your whistle's wail
I wish I was back on the riverboart
'Stead of in the Memphis jail...