I'll tell it like it happened, it was Darius and Noland and me
Just a few po' boys trying to get up outta Missouri
Took 55 to Louisiana, stopped by the highway to eat
They both had crawfish, strictly chicken for me
Back out under thunderheads, the radio was Southern soul
They interrupted Clarence Carter with a strange-ass local show
They were sayin':
"Come down to Lake Pontchartrain
Rest your soul and feed your brain
That's where you will get to see everything the water can be"
The rain was comin' down, the wind was howlin' outside of Slidell
It was the kinda night that makes you think the whole world's goin' to hell
We got off on an exit 'cause we couldn't read the map so great
Near the Choctaw Motel, we parked to deliberate
When out of the bayou came a man like the lake had a tongue
He was right up on the glass, all yellow-eyed, black teeth, bangin' on the windshield
Screamin' like a demon at the top of his lungs:
"Come down to Lake Pontchartrain
Rest your soul and feed your brain
Free for you and all your friends, crawfish 'til the bitter end
Come down to Lake Pontchartrain
Wade to where the shallows break
That's where you will get to see everything the water can be"
I was driving out of there as fast as a Camry could
But the interstate was flooded and I had to take the road through the woods
Bad move in retrospect, the road disappeared in the rain
And I stood on the brakes when I saw the sign: "Lake Pontchartrain..."
Darius was yelling that he saw somebody out in the swells
He jumped out runnin' and Noland was goin' as well
"Come back!" Why the hell would they leave the car?
And that's when I heard it, make no mistake -
The voices were calling them from under the lake:
"Come down to Lake Pontchartrain...
Come down to Lake Pontchartrain...
Come down to Lake Pontchartrain...
Come down to Lake Pontchartrain..."
The crawfish were screaming, the waves danced in time
My friends went in deeper, the water, it climbed
I watched in terror, the lake opened wide
And horribly roaring, it pulled them inside
That's how it happened, why would I lie?
There were no bodies, I've got none to hide
I'm just a boy, lost his friends in the rain
Any more questions, just go and ask Lake Pontchartrain