I started out to be a Tow Boatin' man
but I never got the hang of a rachet bar..
I was growin' up a deckhand in the Illinois trade,
with coal dust in my ear.

Got stuck in the ice on Christmas Eve,
and I froze my ass it's true.
Shiverin' and a shakin' with a down south case
of those Steamboat Whistle Blues......