By the banks of the river where the willows hang down

And the wild birds all warble with a low mourning sound

Down in the hollow where the water runs cold

It was there I first listened to the lies that you told

Now I lie on my bed and I see your sweet face

The past I remember time cannot erase

A letter you wrote me it was written in shame

And I know that your conscience still echoes my name

[ harmonica ]

Now the nights are so long load sorrow unsteep

And nothing is worse than a night wothout sleep

I walk out alone and look at the sky too empty to say too lonesome to cry

If the ladies were blackbirds and the ladies were fishes

I'd lie there for hours in the chilly cold matches

If the ladies were squirrels with a high bushy tail

I'd fill up my shotgun with a rock salt and nails