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