The River Down by the Sea - Strawbs

I made a sideways motion

Turning a new leaf

The single minded miner’s girl

Was there to share my grief

I shivered in the butter wind

Three times the cockerel crowed

I waited for the river

But the river did not flow.

An autumn turned to silver

Winter turned to gold

The weatherman said dress up

Oh but I did not feel the cold

Kids waited with toboggans

As I sheltered from the snow

I waited for the river

But the river did not flow.

I will drink the milk from you breasts

Meld myself to you

Collect the valley lilies

The worshippers once strew

My body aches with hunger

Yet your belly has to grow

I waited for the river

But the river did not flow.

Maybe you think, a lot like me

Of those who live beside the sea

Who feel so free, so I surmise

With their comfortable homes, and wives

Who end up drinking tea together

In the afternoon of their lives.

They build their homes upon the seashore

The quicksand castles of their dreams

Yet take no notice of the North wind

Which tears their building at the seams.

In their dismay and blind confusion

The weeping widows clutch their shawls

While as the sea mist ever deepens

The sailors hear the sirens' calls.

And in the maelstrom sea which follows

The lifeboat sinks without a trace

And yet there still remain survivors

To bear the shame of their disgrace.

Last night I lay in bed

And held myself

Trying to remember

How it once was with you

How your hands were softer.

Yesterday I found myself

Rather like the sailor

In my own home surroundings

I’m not sure I know me.

If you were me what would you do

Don’t tell me I don’t need you to

It won’t help me now.