Down in the quarter past anybody's bedtime
Anybody anywhere who was halfway out his mind
I was sittin' in a Rock and Roll bar
Down from another just on up the line
I was talkin' with a new found friend
Who lived his life on river time

He was holdin' my attention
I could almost hear the sound
How he ran on the Mississippi
On a tug from the up and down
He was rollin' like the river
Could have gone all night and day
But I caught myself in mid-turn
And I never looked away

Could it ever happen again
Time awaiting the answer then
Lost and found in the city, New Orleans

Questions in her dark eyes
I felt she already knew
The answers bringing no surprise
Like a Spanish moon
She was grown up on the music
I could only hear at home
When she spoke on of the song I sang
And how it made her feel so much less alone
Pickin' out the pictures the tune brought into mind
How it came to me that all along
The song was hers for all time

Could it ever happen again
Time awaiting the answer then
Down in the quarter, New Orleans
Down in the quarter, New Orleans
Down in the quarter, New Orleans
Down in the quarter, New Orleans

Walkin' on a crowded way
Walkin' on a crowded way