Friends, my story is bitter and sweet
Of a gal I hope you never may meet
A woman whose luck rivals as much as she's mean...
Ah! With a smile as pretty as a starry sky
She'll invite you in then leave you dry
She's Ravella, the riverboat queen.
Ravella! Riverboat queen!
She's the infamous gambling gal from New Orleans
Ravella! Riverboat queen!
She'll steal your heart and take away your dreams.
Raised by a crackerjack hobo man
In the bucktooth hills of Alabam'
She learned the ways of the ancient game of chance
With a suitcase full of cards and dreams
She headed for the ships of steam
To live a life of flare, gold and romance
She wore a top hat, frills and lace,
And she sang with style and grace -
A siren from the depths of the Yankee Nile.
Her tricks were extraordinaire
She drew whiskey from thin air
Shot aces in the sky with her .45 pearls.
Ravella! Riverboat queen!
She's the infamous gambling gal from New Orleans
Ravella! Riverboat queen!
She'll steal your heart and take away your dreams.
At the age of seventeen
She made paupers out of kings
And left men begging for their pants (May I please have my pants?)
She had a monkey named Rizoo
Who often played the fool
And then picked the pockets of the gents with which she danced
She once met a man from old Cantoon
With a pocket of silver bright as the moon
And a smile shiny as a Christmas carol
After thirteen games of craps and dice
He knew she wasn't sugar and spice
And walked the gangplank home in a whiskey barrel...
When she places a bet, oh, she dances with merriment
Her fingers are quick as a wink - ha ha ha!
With a laugh and a sigh, well, she'll slip past your eye
And throw snake eyes into your drink.
Because she's...
Ravella! Riverboat queen!
She's the infamous gambling gal from New Orleans
Ravella! Riverboat queen!
She'll steal your heart and take away your dreams.
Her best friends were the Jack of Spades
And a bottle of Tennessee Rain.
She played blackjack for days and days
While quoting Spit and Twain
Green-eyed beauty, gypsy lass
Huckleberry hussey, sassafrass (you sure got a purty mouth)...
Moonshine mama, cotton queen
She's the luckiest gal you've ever seen!
Daughter of the river, she's the golden fortune dame
She dances with chance and she always wins the game
If you bet your heart it will never again be seen
She's Ravella, the riverboat queen!
Ravella! Riverboat queen!
She's the infamous gambling gal from New Orleans
Ravella! Riverboat queen!
She'll steal your heart and take away your dreams.
One, two...
Ravella! Riverboat queen!
She's the infamous gambling gal from New Orleans
Ravella! Riverboat queen!
She'll steal your heart and take away your dreams.
She'll steal your heart and take away your...
She'll steal your heart and take away your dreams.
She'll steal your heart and take away your dreams.
Oh, Ravella!