Born on the hudson, twenty-two years gone

Bred and raised in the city

From my daddy's knee i learned the union songs

But grandma sang lullabies of dixie

And though the northern winter fills my heart with joy

Oh it's a southern sun that shines down

On this yankee boy



Mama dreamed of paris nights

And boatin' on the seine

She said, we're gonna make it there too

Soon as papa comes home again

And she'd speak to me in broken french

Dressed like a painting of lautrec's

In the night she'd clutch me to her breast

And say, we'll make it outta here yet

And though parisian women

Strut so fine down the eiffel mall

It's a southern one i sing my songs for



Well with the local bunch of do-good boys

And an old man from the west

We crossed the land in the caravan

Yes we traveled with the best

With circus acts and vaudeville hacks

And the mississippi delta queen

She told me the news and sold me her blues

In an alley in new orleans

And though the western plains are still stained

With the blood of great cowboys

It's a southern sun

That shine down on this yankee boy