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Let Him Go on Mama
Mighty Poplar,Andrew Marlin,Noam Pikelny,Chris Eldridge,Alex Hargreaves,Greg Garrison
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Well, he likes black coffee, fried eggs
And a well done T-bone steak
He like a red dress and pearly white teeth
And the flash of a pretty brown leg
He said, "Back in the '30s, you know
You never had it made"
He works as an engineer, Ohio River
Workin' on the Pittsburgh trade
At the inspection office in Louisville
He had a desk for a very short time
Played in a band on two different boats
Workin' for the Strackfus line
And long ago he smoked the reefer
And he even made home brew
And the reefer come up from New Orleans
Back before World War II
He's just a feller, worked on the river
All his life by a paddle wheel
You say, "He's old-fashioned"
That ain't no big deal
Oh, it's too thick to navigate
And it's too thin to plow
So let him go on, mama
Don't you put him down for it now
Well, he smokes an old I-bolt cigar
And he says he doesn't miss it at all
But he still goes out, and he makes a few trips
In the summer and then in the fall
And the buses, and the planes, and the river train
Are takin' up all the slack
He's been watching all those river towns
Slowly turn their backs
He's just a feller, worked on the river
All his life by a paddle wheel
You say, "He's old-fashioned"
Well, that ain't no big deal
Well, it's too thick to navigate
And it's too thin to plow
So let him go on, mama
Don't you put him down for it now
Well, he comes from a real old-time way of life
He had to fight just learn how
He might even have 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
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
So let him go on, mama
And don't you put him down for it now
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You're as pretty as he is ugly
And he's the happiest man alive
Somehow, you've got him thanking
That old men are back in style
Well, you see these Oysters Bienville
And this baked potato skin
I'll eat 'em, so I can grow up an' be
An old man just like him
He's just a feller, worked on the river
All his life by a paddle wheel
You say, "He's old-fashioned"
That ain't no big deal
Oh, it's too thick to navigate
And it's too thin to plow
So let him go on, mama
Don't you put him down for it now
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