Headed down south
to the land of the pines
I’m thumbin’ my way
into North Caroline
Starin’ up the road
I pray I see headlights

I made it down the coast
in seventeen hours
Pickin’ me a bouquet
of dogwood flowers
I’m a hopin’ for Raleigh
I can see my baby tonight

So rock me mama
like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama
anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama
like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama
like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

Runnin’ from the cold
up in New England,
I was born to be a fiddler
in an old-time stringband
My baby plays the guitar,
I pick a banjo now

Oh, the North country winters
keep a gettin’ me now
Lost my money playin’ poker
so I had to up and leave
But I ain’t a turnin’ back,
To livin’ that old life no more

So rock me mama
like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama
anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama
like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama
like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

Walkin’ to the south
out of Roanoke,
I caught a trucker out of Philly
had a nice long toke
But he’s a headed west
from the Cumberland Gap
to Johnson City, Tennessee

I gotta get a move on
fit for the sun
I hear my baby callin’ my name
and I know that she’s the only one
If I die in Raleigh
at least I will die free

So rock me mama
like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama
anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama
like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama
like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me