I’m your levee man
Getting my loving anywhere I can
What is a levee man? Levee is the word for dike in American-English. An earthen wall to keep the water out. Especially well known for those who have been watching the news about hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Levee comes from the French lever, to raise.
Webster’s mentions the synonym, apart from some very particular meanings of a reception usually in honor of a particular person. No idea how I can connect that to the lovesick person Luke is singing about in his song.
But with raising we also can mean the raising of an army. The French term levée en masse refers to the conscription of men for the army. Originally this was a term used in connection to the French Revolution, but it was used in several international treaties, like the Convention of Geneva in 1949. Maybe the levee man is not running around the dike, or invited to a party, but he is a conscript for the army. A soldier, passing by.