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