[Verse 1]
I used to wake up every morning saying
"I must be getting away with something here"
Every day was like parole
Before the levees overflowed
And I refuse to think it could all just disappear (I refuse to think)
How long before the street car rattles down St. Charles Avenue And beads swing from two hundred year old trees?
How long before they walk down along Lake Ponchartrain
With the smell of just magnolia on the breeze?
Yeah I've seen people laughing
All the way down to the cemeteries
Just to send another soul off on its way
Yeah I've seen 'em dance
Right up to the edge of it
But this time they're gonna dance back from the grave

[Chorus]
Dance back
Dance back
Dance back
Dance back from the grave

[Verse 2]
Well a thousand souls crossed over
And they were greeted by an all-star band
And while the saints go marchin' in
There's still hell to pay back down in Dixieland
Yeah the storms are headed south again
And the hour is getting pretty late
Somebody better build that levee
It's already Mardi Gras at Heavens gate (Yeah)
[Chorus]
Dance back
Dance back
Dance back
Dance back from the grave
Dance back
Dance back
Get your tambourines, slide trombones
And dance back from the grave
Oh yeah
Ooh yeah
Ooh yeah

[Verse 3]
So don't shed a tear for them tonight
As they circle and swoop and promenade
They're just carrying their torches
And marching in a heavenly parade
No don't shed a tear
But take their cue
There's only one thing left to do
In the name of every soul we didn't save
From the Ninth Ward to the Quarter
To the Mississippi border
Dance back from the grave
[Chorus]
Dance back
Dance back
Dance back
Dance back from the grave
Dance back
Dance back
Get your tambourines, slide trombones
And dance back from the grave
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Get your tambourines, slide trombones
And dance back from the grave