Growin' up on the bayou
Can drive you outta your mind
Marie was just a youngin'
When she left the black water behind
It all happened one night
In the back of Jimmy's car
Jimmy said, Marie you are so pretty
Well you oughta be a movie star?
So she packed up her backwood streams
Stole her mama's Maybelline
And took the train to New Orleans
And swore she was never gonna go, go
Back to the black water bayou
Mama said, child, don't go back on your raisin'
There ain't no place in the city
For a pretty little backstreet Cajun
The long hot nights, will leave you cold
And there's a devil waitin' on
Every corner tryin' to buy your soul?
And with no where to go, and nothin' to eat
She got a job dancin' down on Bourbon Street
But the shoes she's wearin' on her feet
Don't dance like they danced with Jimmy Lebeaux
Back on the black water bayou
In the heat of the night
It was the very last show
She walked onto the stage
With her heart and her head hung low
She started to cry, cry
As the curtain rolled
She found herself lookin'
In the black water eyes of Jimmy Lebeaux
Well he picked up her shattered dreams
Off that stage in New Orleans
And said, Marie, don't you think it's time to go
Back to the black water bayou??
Don't you know it's time to go
Back to the black water bayou?
Growin' up on the bayou
Can drive you outta your mind
Marie was just a youngin'
When she left the black water behind
It all happened one night
In the back of Jimmy's car
Jimmy said, Marie you're so pretty
Well you oughta be a movie star?
Growin' up on the bayou
Can drive you outta your mind