I ain't gonna ride no rail or hitchhike down no highway

i aint' going nowhere feeling the way i do

because my baby's long gone and nothings going my way

i'm gonna let this muddy water just wash away my blues.

Chorus:

Gonna take a lot of river,

to keep this broken heart afloat,

gonna take a lot of river

running all the live long days,

gonna take the mississippi, the monongahela and the ohio,

gonna take a lot of river

to wash these blues away,

Well i wish i was tug boat pushing and pulling them barges along

moving on the water with a heart made of iron and steel

there wouldn't be no women that could ever take my loving and do me wrong

i could work all day with nothing in the world to feel.

Chorus:

Gonna take a lot of river

to keep this broken heart afloat

gonna take a lot of river

running all the live long days

gonna take the mississippi, the monongahela and the ohio

gonna take a lot of river

to wash these blues away

Is she in new orleans

is she a cajun queen

i wonder what she's doing now

but if i know her she's got rings and furs struggeling along somehow

Chorus:

Gonna take a lot of river

to keep this broken heart afloat

gonna take a lot of river

running all the live long days

gonna take the mississippi, the monongahela and the ohio

gonna take a lot of river

to wash these blues away

Gonna take a lot of river

to keep this broken heart afloat

gonna take a lot of river

running all the live long days

gonna take the mississippi, the monongahela and the ohio

gonna take a lot of river

to wash these blues away