Well, me and Mark Twain were having us a ball Telling each other lies, floating down from Hannibal With a bottle and a worm and a cane pole We were fishing for secrets where the catfish crawl
And the Mississippi River's flowing downstream Meet the Gulf of Mexico somewhere downstream Meet the Atlantic Ocean somewhere downstream Gonna meet you in the water somewhere downstream
Well, we picked up Harry Truman floating down from Independence We said "What about the war?", he said "Good riddance" We said "What about the Bomb, are you sorry that you did it?" He said "Pass me that bottle, and mind your own business"
And the Mississippi River's flowing downstream Meet the Gulf of Mexico somewhere downstream Meet the Atlantic Ocean somewhere downstream Gonna meet you in the water somewhere downstream Well, we're rounding St. Louis and heading for the coast When we pick up Chuck Berry in a little rowboat With one oar in the water and one in the air A lightning rod for a white guitar
And lightning struck once, and lightning struck twice And I said "If there's a God, He sure ain't nice" And Chuck said "God is an Indian giver I don't trust nothing but the Mississippi River"
And the Mississippi River's flowing downstream Meet the Gulf of Mexico somewhere downstream Meet the Atlantic Ocean somewhere downstream Gonna meet you in the water somewhere downstream