This afternoon I walked out into a ditch The crawfish stirred the water The papermill blew in on the southeastern wind And it was raining in port arthur I pulled a dead limb from a fallen pine The sun was dropping on the lower neches valley I called the dogs from out of the woods with a hollar And it was raining in port arthur That night my daddy drove us to maw maw's He and mama wanted to be alone I sat up in that mimosa tree with my brother And it was raining in port arthur The refinerys hum and glow from the road And I listen to the dove as she mourns I'm standing in the rice fields of beaumont And it was raining in port arthur