I was a country kid through and through I got my bare feet bit by a wreckin' crew Of fire ants on a mission for total domination of the font yard Three years old on a ramshackle farm Winnie-the-Pooh in the crook of my arm Brother and sister not meaning no harm, pickin' on me I was a country kid with a strong foundation Gettin' myself a whole second education in the back of the bus Kids kissin' and cussin' all around me One more pickup in the trailer park Hand to mouth, livin'll break a young heart Beautiful girl with a hard, hard look in her eyes Then I grew up and hit the city But the skyscrapers never get me I fly above 'em all the time, straight through cloud nine Flowing fast like the Mississippi I was a country kid shootin' hoops in the dirt Hidin' smokes in the pocket of a homemade shirt Runnin' laps in the yard until my little legs hurt and then goin' again Six feet of air off a plywood ramp Dad's welding machine parked where I would land All I could taste was blood, all I could feel were the rocks In the palms of my hands I was a country kid throwin' parties in the woods Draggin' my friends out of their neighborhoods Jealous of their cable TV and their girls next door Slippin' off into the dark of night The shape of a body traced by moonlight Interrupted by some other kid wantin' to fight over her Then I grew up and hit the city But the skyscrapers never get me I fly above 'em all the time, straight through cloud nine Flowing fast like the Mississippi Flowing fast like the Mississippi Woo! I was a country kid Now I'm grown, with a job and a wife and a son of my own Navigatin' time zones, inspectin' the bones of the second half Talkin' to God a little more often Less requests and more sayin', "Thank you" For every single town and every single acre in between 'Cause I grew up and hit the city But that metropolis'll never get me I fly above it all the time, straight through cloud nine Flowing fast like the Mississippi Yeah, I grew up and hit the city But the skyscrapers never get me I fly above 'em all the time, straight through cloud nine Flowing fast like the Mississippi