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