Intro
 
[Chorus]
   Mama   said   don't   go   near   that   river
   Don't   be   hanging   around   old   Catfish   John
   But   come   the   morning   I'd   always   be   there
Walking   in   his   footsteps   in   the   sweet   delta   dawn
 
[Verse   1]
Born   a   slave   in   the   town   of   Vicksburg
Traded   for   a   chestnut   mare
He   never   spoke   a   word   in   anger
Though   his   load    was   hard   to   bare
 
[Chorus]
   Mama   said   don't   go   near   that   river
   Don't   be   hanging   around   old   Catfish   John
   But   come   the   morning   I'd   always   be   there
Walking   in   his   footsteps   in   the   sweet   delta   dawn
 
[Instrumental]
 
[Verse   2]
Catfish   John   was   a   river   hobo
He   lived   and   died   on   the   river   bend
Looking   back   I   still   remember
I   was   proud    to   be   his   friend
 
[Chorus]
   Mama   said   don't   go   near   that   river
   Don't   be   hanging   around   old   Catfish   John
   But   come   the   morning   I'd   always   be   there
Walking   in   his   footsteps   in   the   sweet   delta   dawn
 
[Instrumental]
 
[Verse   3]
Let   me   dream   of   another   morning
And   a   time   so   long   ago
When   the   sweet   magnolias   blossomed
And   the   cotton   fields    were   white   as   snow
 
[Chorus]
   Mama   said   don't   go   near   that   river
   Don't   be   hanging   around   old   Catfish   John
   But   come   the   morning   I'd   always   be   there
Walking   in   his   footsteps   in   the   sweet   delta   dawn
 
[Outro]
   But   come   the   morning   I'd   always   be   there