If you've ever been down to New Orleans
Then you can understand just what I mean
All through the week it's as quiet as a mouse
But on Saturday night they go from house to house

You don't have to pay when you only mention
If you're a cook or a waiter or a good musician
If you just happen to be passing by
Stop in at the Saturday night fish fry

It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
Till the break of dawn

It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
Till the break of dawn

Now my buddy and me was on the bandstand
Fooling around, just me and him
We decided we could use something to eat
So we went to a house on rampart street

We knocked on the door and it opened with ease
A light-skinned miss said 'Come in, please'
Before we could even bat an eye
We was right in the middle of a big fish fry
It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
Till the break of dawn

It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
Till the break of dawn

Now the woman was screaming and jumping and yelling
The bottles were flying and the fish were smelling
From way up above all the noise they made
Somebody hollered 'better get outta here, this is a raid'

I didn't know we were breaking the law
Somebody reached over and hit me on the jaw
They had locked up from the front and the back
Putting them in the wagon like potato sacks

It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
'til the break of dawn

It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
Till the break of dawn
I knew I could away if I had the chance
But I was shaking like I had St. Vitus' dance
I tried to crawl under a bathtub
A policeman said 'hey, now where you going, bud? '

They got us outta there like a house on fire
And put us all in that Black Mariah
They might of missed one or two
But they got both me and my buddy too

It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
Till the break of dawn

It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
Till the break of dawn

Well we headed for jail in a dazed condition
They booked each one of us on suspicion
My chick came down and she went my bail
Finally got me outta that rotten jail

If you ever wanna go get a fist in your eye
Just mention a Saturday night fish fry
I don't care how many fish in the sea
Don't ever mention a fish to me
It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
Till the break of dawn

It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
Till the break of dawn

It was rocking, it was rocking
You never seen such scuffling and shuffling
Till the break of dawn