Left a good job in the city
workin’ for the man ev’ry night and day
and I never lost one minute of sleepin’
worryin’ ‘bout the way things might have been.

Big wheel keep on turnin’
Proud Mary keep on burnin’
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river (x2).

If I come down to the river
bet you gonna find some people who live
you don’t have to worry ‘cause you have no money
people on the river are happy to give.

Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis,
pumped a lot of pain down in New Orleans
but I never saw the good side of the city
until I hitched a ride on a riverboat queen.