Born on the Bayou

When I was a little boy, I get up every morning with a song
And as soon as that song hit me in the face
I knew it was some kind of callin' for me to get up
I grew up in a place that was happy
Although it looked like we didn't have much, we had a lot of love for each other
And he was happy just to be there

Well, while sitting around one day
Something told me to take some of that happiness and excitement
Out into the world
Something told me, if you could take that message
That spirit you feel inside
That love and happiness to people, they'll make you feel like a king
I answer that call, I became the king
For most people, that would had been more than enough

But for me, it was only the beginning
I had another calling to spread love to the world
So I left my throne to walk hand in hand with my people
To let them feel the kind of love that my world needed to have
While I was spreading that love, others came to claim my title
My people and my throne, and that's when I heard the call again
It said, "King, go back!"

Now people always ask me, "Richard, how come you change your mind so much?
How come you do so many different things?"
And I tell them, "All my life I've done the same thing
Spreading love and happiness
And a pound of excitement that shakes the world
And no matter what way, and how I'm called on to do it
I must answer that call, just like when I was a little boy
And I answer that call of the morning sun, down on the Bayou"

Now, when I was just a little boy
Standing to my Daddy's knee
My poppa said, "Son, don't let the man get you
And do what he done to me"

But I can remember the Fourth of July
I'm runnin' through the backwoods, bare
And I can still hear my old hound dog barking
Chasing down a hoodoo there

Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)
Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)
Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)
Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)

I wish I was back on the Bayou
Or rolling with some Cajun queen
Wishing I were a fast freight train
Rollin' down to New Orleans

Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)
Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)
Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)
Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)

Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)
Down on the Ba-ba-bayou (down on the Bayou)
Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)
Down on the Bayou (down on the Bayou)

Now I'm going back home (down on the Bayou)
To take all the love I know (down on the Bayou)
Now I can stand here, or I'd sit down there (down on the Bayou)
Everybody wants to know (down on the Bayou)

Now I've got to, got to tell them all (down on the Bayou)
'Bout, about the love (down on the Bayou)
I've got to tell them all (down on the Bayou)
All the people, I've got to, got to, got to tell them all (down on the Bayou)