Porch light stays on! (Stays on!)
Water's at the stair, but the porch light stays on! (Stays on!)
Let the whole river come, I'm the lighthouse with a banjo
Dobro in the doorway and the chickens on the piano
Porch light stays on! (Stays on!)
Kudzu don't ask, and the water don't know! (Hey!)

Flood year, river climbing up the third step by the dawn
Chickens on the carport and the cat is on the lawn
Neighbors in a johnboat with a casserole and a gun
Wave at me and holler, "Girl, we're leaving! Are you done?"
I said, "Done with what? I got the deed, I got the roof"
Got a banjo in the attic and a dent that's bulletproof
I grab the oars, I'm rowing out for Miss Pearl and her ham
Then the preacher on a rooftop, with his flock and a lamb
Banker clinging to a mailbox like a raft in the stream
I say, "Hold on, sir, that mailbox is a dream"
Twelve folks in the johnboat and a hound at the prow
Porch light's the lighthouse, and I'm steering through it now

Water's at the window, and the light is burning bright
Three (three!), two (two!)
One...
Stays on!

Porch light stays on! (Stays on!)
Twelve folks safe, and the johnboat's on the hill
Mavis's lantern in the window, and she's smiling still
Porch light stays on! (Stays on!)
Water takes the porch, I build another behind
Every flood's a mortgage, and I pay it in kind! (Hey!)

Second day, the barn's afloat, the pickup's a boat
Preacher's on the porch with a sermon and a coat
FEMA on the radio, "Stay calm, help is near"
Honey, help's a rumor, and the rumor's got me here
Banjo floating down the hall like a duck in a gown
Granny Mavis laughing from the rafters, laughing down
Row it back by moonlight with a grin and a rope
Wipe the mud off the dent, and I sing the hymn of hope
Hound on the porch with a bone and a bow
Porch light burning on the empire that I grow
I ain't running from a river, I was born inside the flood
Got the whole of Kudzu County in the marrow of my blood

Who kept it burning?
(She kept it burning!)
Who stayed through the storm?
(She stayed through the storm!)
Who owns the light?
(She owns the light, and it's warm!)

Porch light stays on! (Stays on!)
Water's at the door, but the porch light stays on! (Stays on!)
Let the whole river come, I've been here before
Dobro in the doorway and a dent in the door
Porch light stays on! (Stays on!)
Kudzu don't ask, and the water don't know! (Hey!)

Stays on!