[Verse 1]
I was a country kid through and through
I got my bare feet bit by a wreckin' crew
Of fire ants on a mission for total domination of the front yard

Three years old on a ramshackle farm
Winnie-the-Pooh in the crook of my arm
Brother and sister not meaning no harm, pickin' on me

I was a country kid with a strong foundation
Gettin' myself a whole second education in the back of the bus
Kids kissin' and cussin' all around me

One more pickup in the trailer park
Hand to mouth livin'll break a young heart
Beautiful girl with a hard, hard look in her eyes

[Chorus]
Then I grew up and hit the city
But the skyscrapers never get me
I fly above 'em all the time, straight through cloud nine
Flowing fast like the Mississippi

[Verse 2]
I was a country kid shootin' hoops in the dirt
Hidin' smokes in the pocket of a homemade shirt
Runnin' laps in the yard until my little legs hurt and then goin' again
Six feet of air off a plywood ramp
Dad's welding machine parked where I would land
All I could taste was blood, all I could feel were the rocks
In the palms of my hands

I was a country kid throwin' parties in the woods
Draggin' my friends out of their neighborhoods
Jealous of their cable TV and their girls next door

Slippin' off into the dark of night
The shape of a body traced by moonlight
Interrupted by some other kid wantin' to fight over her

[Chorus]
Then I grew up and hit the city
But the skyscrapers never get me
I fly above 'em all the time, straight through cloud nine
Flowing fast like the Mississippi
Flowing fast like the Mississippi
Woo!

[Verse 3]
I was a country kid
Now I'm grown with a job and a wife and a son of my own
Navigatin' time zones, inspectin' the bones of the second half
Talkin' to God a little more often
Less requests and more sayin', "Thank you"
For every single town and every single acre in between

[Chorus]
'Cause I grew up and hit the city
But that metropolis'll never get me
I fly above it all the time, straight through cloud nine
Flowing fast like the Mississippi

Yeah, I grew up and hit the city
But the skyscrapers never get me
I fly above 'em all the time, straight through cloud nine
Flowing fast like the Mississippi