[Verse 1]
Well, he likes black coffee, fried eggs
And a well done T-bone steak
He likes a red dress and pearly white teeth
And the flash of a pretty long leg, he said
Back in the '30s, you know you never had it made
He worked as an engineer over on the Ohio river
Workin’ on the Pittsburgh trade
At the inspection office in Louisville
He had a desk for a very short time
He played in bands on two different boats
Working for the Strackfus line
And long ago he smoked reefer
And even made home brew
And the reefer come up from New Orleans
Back before World War II

[Chorus]
He's just a feller worked on the river
All his life by a paddle wheel
You say he's old fashioned
But that ain’t no big deal
Oh, it's too thick to navigate
And it's too thin to plow
Let him go on, mama
Don't you put him down for it now
[Verse 2]
Well, he smokes an old I-bolt cigar
And he says he doesn't miss it at all
But he still goes out and takes a few trips
In the summer and in the fall
And the buses and the planes and the railroad trains are takin' up the slack
He's watching all those river towns slowly turn their back

[Chorus]
He's just a feller worked on the river
All his life by a paddle wheel
You say he’s old fashioned
But that ain’t no big deal
Oh, it's too thick to navigate
And it’s too thin to plow
Let him go on, mama
Don't you put him down for it now

[Verse 3]
Well, he comes from a real old-time way of life
He had to fight just to learn how
He maybe even voted for Nixon once
But I'm sure he sees that now
And on Friday night he makes the best damn gumbo you'd ever want to eat
On Saturday morning ’fore everyone's up
He's gone off down to the fleet
[Chorus]
He's just a feller worked on the river
All his life by a paddle wheel
You say he's old fashioned
But that ain't no big deal
Oh, it's too thick to navigate
And it's too thin to plow
Let him go on, mama
Don't you put him down for it now

[Verse 4]
You're as pretty as he is ugly
And he's the happiest man alive
Somehow you've got him thinkin'
That old men are back in style
Well, you see these Oysters Bienville
And these baked potato skins
I'll eat 'em so I can grow up and be
An old man just like him

[Chorus]
He's just a feller worked on the river
All his life by a paddle wheel
You say he's old fashioned
But that ain't no big deal
Oh, and it's too thick to navigate
And it's too thin to plow
Let him go on, mama
Don't you put him down for it now