[Verse 1]
Third ward heat in a shotgun house
Ceiling fan leaning like it’s tired too
Mama got beads on the rearview mirror
Cross on the dash
Rent overdue
Baton Rouge bus
Cousin headed upstate
He say
“I love home
But I gotta escape”
But the job line’s long as the Pontchartrain
And the landlord knocking like a second chain
[Chorus]
River don’t know my name
Still it hold our pain
From Shreveport down to the Quarter rain
We dance in the fire
Cook in the flame
Lose that house
Lose that block
Still we second line around the clock
You can flood my street
You can change my lane
But you can’t wash out my last name (oh no)
[Verse 2]
Grandma from Houma
Bayou in her voice
Says
“They raised them levees
Never gave us a choice”
Storm came through
Took the porch
Took the swing
Took every school photo on the wall in the den
Uptown auntie in a FEMA line
Says
“Baby
They pushing us past Jefferson line”
New condos shining where the cousins played
King cake colors where our dreams got paved
[Chorus]
River don’t know my name
Still it hold our pain
From Shreveport down to the Quarter rain
We dance in the fire
Cook in the flame
Lose that house
Lose that block
Still we second line around the clock
You can flood my street
You can change my lane
But you can’t wash out my last name (yeah)
[Bridge]
Crawfish boil in a cramped motel
Zydeco on a cracked seashell
Mardi Gras mask in a thrift store bin
Saints flag faded
But we still all in (oh Lord)
Where we go when the rent too high?
When the bus stop gone and the oak trees die?
From Lake Charles east to that Ninth Ward sign
We carry this South like a spine
[Chorus]
River don’t know my name
Still it hold our pain
From Shreveport down to the Quarter rain
We dance in the fire
Cook in the flame
Lose that house
Lose that block
Still we second line around the clock
You can flood my street
You can change my lane
But you can’t wash out my last name