(Bill Anderson)      Well, I spent the better part of   My life on a Mississippi riverboat   I used to be known from coast to coast   Ss the slickest gambler afloat.      I've dealt the cards from Minnesota   To the harbor at New Orleans   Made a lotta big money on the riverboat   Loved a lotta pretty riverboat queens.      Riverboat, riverboat   I love your whistle's wail   I wish I was back on the riverboart    'Stead of in the Memphis jail.      --- Instrumental ---      Well, a big man got on the riverboat   Our last time in St. Paul   He had a lotta money but his luck went bad   And the riverboat won it all.      He said I dealt from the bottom of the deck   And he pulled a shiny knife   But before that gambler lunged at me   My forty-four took his life.      Riverboat, riverboat   I love your whistle's wail   I wish I was back on the riverboart    'Stead of in the Memphis jail.      --- Instrumental ---      Well, they came on the boat and they   Took me to jail when we got to Tennessee   A gamblin' man has very few friends   Guess nobody cared for me.      Well, I might be here for a many long years   But if I ever get out   I'm gonna head straight for that levee   And get me a riverboat headin' south.      Riverboat, riverboat   I love your whistle's wail   I wish I was back on the riverboart    'Stead of in the Memphis jail...