Showboat coming up the river See her lanterns flicker in the gentle breeze I can hear the crickets singing in the evening Old Dixie Lily moving past the cypress trees My little boat she rocks easy I've been catching catfish in the creek all day Oh and I've never seen ladies like those on the big boats Must be fancy breeding lets you live that way Dixie Lily, chugging like a grand old lady Paddles hitting home in the noonday sun Ploughing through the water with your whistles blowing Down from Louisiana on the Vicksburg run Papa says that I'm a dreamer Says them skeetas bit me one too many times Oh but I never get lonesome living on the river Watching old Lily leave the world behind