6/8, tempo 50, Blues Mo Slo, harmonika C
C#F#C#
C# F# C#
1. By the banks of the river, where the willows hang down
Bbm F# C#
and the wild birds all warble with a low moaning sound,
Bbm F# C#
down in the hollow, where the waters run cold,
F# C#
it was there I first listened to the lies that she told.
C# F# C#
2. Now I lay on my bed and I can see her sweet face,
Bbm F# C#
the past I remember, time can not erase.
Bbm F# C#
The letter you wrote me, it was written in shame
F# C#
and I know that your conscience still echoes my name.
C# F# C# F#
3. Now the nights are so long, your sorrows run deep
C# F# C# F#
and nothing is worse, than a night without sleep,
C# F# C# F#
I’ll walk out alone and look at the sky,
C# F# C#
to empty to sing, to lonesome to cry.
C# F# C#
4. If the ladies were blackbirds and the ladies were thrushes
Bbm F# C#
I’d lie there for hours, in the chilly cold marshes,
Bbm F# C#
if the ladies were squirrels, with a high bushy tails
F# C#
I’d fill up my shotgun with rock salt and nails.