A                       C
Thirty miles out in the Gulf Stream
        D                     A
I can hear them South winds moan
    A                   C
The bridges are lookin' lower
D                         A    
Shrimp boats are hurryin' home

A                       C
The old man down in the quarter
D                 A
Slowly turned his head
   A                       C
He took another sip of his whiskey bottle
   D                       A
He looked at me and he said


Chorus:
      A                        C
I was born in the rain by Lake Ponchartrain
     D                   A
Underneath the Louisiana Moon
      A                          C
And I don't mind the strain of a hurricane
     D                 E
They come around every June
A                   C
High black water, a devils daughter
      D                              A
She's hard and she's cold, and she's mean
    A                           G
But nobody's taught her that it takes a lot of water
   D         A  
To wash away New Orleans


A man came down from Chicago
Gonna set that levee right
It's got to be up about three feet higher
Won't make it through the end of the night

The old man down in the quarter
Said don't you listen to that boy
The water'll down by mornin', son
And he'll be back on his way to Illinois

Cause I was born in the rain by the Ponchartrain
Underneath the Louisiana Moon
And I don't mind the strain of a hurricane
They come around every June
High black water's like the devil's daughter
She's hard and she's cold, and she's mean
But we've finally taught her that it takes a lot of water 
To wash away New Orleans