River Gonna Carry Me

River Gonna Carry Me
by John McCutcheon
© 1988 Appalsongs (ASCAP)

Don't you know (don't you know)
I'm the one (I'm the one)
Up in the morning
Before the sun (before the sun)
Don't you know that I'm the one
Up in the morning before the sun
Gonna break my back till the long day's done
And the river gonna carry me away

Carry me river, to my home
Carry me river, back to my home
To the one I love and the family
And the old home place is gonna set me free
And the river gonna carry me away

When the sun go down (when the sun go down)
And then moon is high (and the moon is high)
And the northern star
Mount the midnight sky (mount the midnight sky)
When the sun go down and the moon is high
Northern star mount the midnight sky
Gonna get me a boat and I'm a-gonna fly
And the river gonna carry me away

Carry me river, to my home
Carry me river, back to my home
To the one I love and the family
And the old home place is gonna set me free
And the river gonna carry me away

I don't know but I been told
The streets of heaven are paved with gold
Wait till then I'll be too damn old
For the river gonna carry me away

So, I'm a-going down (I'm a-going down)
To the riverside (to the riverside)
Gonna get me a boat (gonna get me a boat)
And I’m a-gonna ride (I'm a-gonna ride)
Going on down to the riverside
Gonna get me a boat and I'm a-gonna ride
Gonna float on down in freedom's tide
And the river gonna carry me away

Carry me river, to my home
Carry me river, back to my home
To the one I love and the family
The old home place is gonna set me free
And the river gonna carry me away

This song appears on Tom Chapin's Doing Our Job CD.

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