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