I don't smoke, I don't shoot smack
  But I got a spicy monkey ridin' on my back.
  Don't eat beignets, too much sugar and dough,
  But I will play for gumbo
  Yes, I will play for gumbo
  
  It started at my Grandma's kitchen by the sea,
  She warned me when she told me "son the first one's free"
  It hit me like a rock or some Taikwondo,
  Cause I will play for gumbo
  Oh yea, I will play for gumbo.
  
  [Chorus:]
  A piece of French bread
  With which to wipe my bowl,
  Good for the body.
  Good for the soul.
  It's a little like religion
  And a lot like sex.
  You should never know
  When you're gonna get it next.
  At midnight in the quarter or noon in Thibadeaux
  I will play for gumbo
  Yes, I will play for gumbo.
  
  I'm not talkin' quesadillas or a dozen Krispy Kremes,
  Or a pound of caviar that's a rich man's dream.
  No banana split or fillet of pompano.
  No, I will play for gumbo,
  Yeah, I will play for gumbo
  
  [Chorus]
  
  Maybe it's the sausage or those pretty pink shrimp
  Or that popcorn rice that makes me blow up like a blimp.
  Maybe it's that voodoo from Marie Leveaux,
  But I will play for gumbo
  Yeah, I will play for gumbo
  
  The sauce boss does his cookin' on the stage,
  Stirrin' and a singing for his nightly wage.
  Sweating and frettin' from his head to his toe,
  Playin' and swayin' with the gumbo
  Prayin' and buffetin' with the gumbo
  
  [Chorus]