Let Him Go on Mama (feat. Andrew Marlin, Noam Pikelny, Chris Eldridge, Alex Hargreaves & Greg Garrison)

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 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