Riverboat Song - Gillian Welch

Thought I’d sing to the river

Just cheer her on her way

She’s a blue old girl

That no one cares to travel on these days

I know some say she’s lazy

She was fast enough before

Half of every cotton crop

Came floating past my door

And there used to be a dance hall

When the gambling boat still ran

The air was full of lamp light

And the sound of dixieland

But the river men are gone now

She’s a melancholy girl

She never sees the delta queen

Or the Alabama pearl

And she looks like she’s lonely

As she tumbles to the sea

She’s headed down to Mexico

To find some company

Well the only time I cursed her

Was the spring of '65

She rolled across my bean field

Looking more than ten miles wide

Well I shoulda seen it comin'

As it does from time to time

Women’s gonna make a fuss

When no one pays her any mind

So thought I’d sing to the river

Just cheer her on her way

She’s a blue old girl

That no one cares to travel on these days

She’s a blue old girl

That no one cares

To travel on these days