Well, at birth Mom and Papa called their little boy Ned He raised him on the banks of a river bed On a houseboat tied to a big tall tree A home for my papa and my momma and me The clock strikes three and Papa jumps to his feet Already Momma's cookin' Papa somethin' to eat At half past, Papa, he's a-ready to go He jumps in his pirogue headed down the bayou He's got fishin' lines strung across the Louisiana River Gotta catch a big fish for us to eat He's settin' traps in the swamps, catchin' anything he can Gotta make a livin', he's a Louisiana man Gotta make a livin', he's a Louisiana man Got muskrat hides hangin' by the dozens Even got a lady mink, a muskrat's cousin Got 'em out dryin' in the hot, hot sun Tomorrow Papa's gonna turn 'em into mon Well, they call my momma Rita and my daddy Jack Little baby brother on the floor, that's Mack Bren and Lin are the family twins And big brother Ed, he's on the bayou fishin' On the river floats Papa's great big boat And that's how my papa goes into town It takes him every bit of a night and a day To even reach a place where the people stay And I can hardly wait until tomorrow comes around That's the day my papa takes the furs to town Papa promised me that I could go He'd even let me see a cowboy show I saw the cowboys and Indians for the first time then I told my pop I've gotta go again Well, Papa said, "Son we've got lines to run. We'll come back again, but first there's work to be done." He's got fishin' lines strung across the Louisiana River Gotta catch a big fish for us to eat He's settin' traps, he's in the swamps, he's catchin' anything he can Gotta make a livin', he's a Louisiana man Gotta make a livin', he's a Louisiana man Gotta make a livin', he's a Louisiana man Gotta make a livin', Louisiana man