From the sheet music at Duke University:

NEW ORLEANS
Words and music by Newton Alexander
New York: Edgar Selden, ©1912.

1. I don't know what to do.
I feel so doggone blue.
I'd like to take a boat.
I'd like to go afloat
Along the Mississippi to old New Orleans
Where I know I've got a good old southern home.
That's where I want to be,
And you'll agree with me
About that feeling grand,
When you put out your hand
And find a welcome there it's worth all you can give.
Well, that's the way folks treat you down where I live.

CHORUS: New Orleans, New Orleans,
In Lou'siana amidst the bayou streams,
Little piccanninies playin' 'round your door,
Steamboat whistles tootin' 'long the river shore,
New Orleans, New Orleans,
There's always a welcome for you there it seems,
'Cause hospitality is a reality
'Way down in dear old New Orleans.

2. About a year ago
I didn't even know
What money really means
Till I left New Orleans
And found that friends are few and people mighty mean
If you ain't got plenty of that old long green.
I'm tired of roamin' now,
And I just feel somehow
If I could lay my head
On my old southern bed,
I'd be contented there until the day I die,
Because it's home, sweet, home, and that's the reason why— CHORUS