words and music by crofford
how old was i when i first seen old rivers
i can’t remember when he weren’t around
well that old fellow did a heap of work
spent his whole life walking plowed ground
he had a oneroom shack not far from us
and well we was about as poor as him
he had one old mule he called midnight
and i’d trailed along after them
he used to plow them rows straight and deep
and i’d come along near behind
abustin’ up clods with my own bare feet
old rivers was a friend of mine
that sun’d get high and that mule would work
till old rivers’d say whoa
he’d wipe his brow lean back on the reins
and talk about a place he was gonna go
he’d say one of these days
i’m gonna climb that mountain
walk up there amoung the clouds
where the cotton’s high
and the corn’s agrowin’
and there ain’t no fields to plow
i got a letter today from the folks back home and
they’re all fine and crops is dry
down at the end my mama said son
you know old rivers died
just sittin’ here now on this newplowed earth
trying to find me a little shade
with the sun beating down ‘cross the field i see
that mule old rivers and me
now one of these days
i’m gonna climb that mountain
walk up there amoung the clouds
where the cotton’s high
and the corn’s agrowin’
and there ain’t no fields to plow
with the sun beating down ‘cross the field i see
that mule old rivers and me
Artist: Walter Brennan
Year: 1962
Decade: 60s
Language: en
Word Count: 150