Red River Shore - Version 1

Outside my cabin door

I've never wanted any of 'em wanting me

'Cept the girl from the Red River shore

Well I sat by her side and for a while I tried

To make that girl my wife

She gave me her best advice when she said

Go home and lead a quiet life

Well I been to the East and I been to the West

And I been out where the black winds roar

Somehow, though, I never did get that far

With the girl from the Red River shore

Well I knew when I first laid eyes on her

I could never be free

One look at her and I knew right away

She should always be with me

Well the dream dried up a long time ago

Don't know where it is anymore

True to life, true to me

Was the girl from the Red River shore

Well I'm wearing the cloak of misery

And I've tasted jilted love

And the frozen smile upon my face

Fits me like a glove

But I can't escape from the memory

Of the one that I'll always adore

All those nights when I lay in the arms

Of the girl from the Red River shore

Well we're livin' in the shadows of a fading past

Trapped in the fires of time

I tried not to ever hurt anybody

And to stay out of a life of crime

And when it's all been said and done

I never did know the score

One more day is another day away

From the girl from the Red River shore

Well I'm a stranger here in a strange land

But I know this is where I belong

I ramble and gamble for the one I love

And the hills will give me a song

Though nothing looks familiar to me

I know I've stayed here before

Once a thousand nights ago

With the girl from the Red River shore

Well I went back to see about her once

Went back to straighten it out

Everybody that I talked to had seen us there

Said they didn't know who I was talkin' about

Well the sun went down on me a long time ago

I've had to fall back from the door

I wish I could have spent every hour of my life

With the girl from the Red River shore

Now I heard of a guy who lived a long time ago

A man full of sorrow and strife

That if someone around him died and was dead

He knew how to bring him on back to life

Well I don't know what kind of language he used

Or if they do that kind of thing anymore

Sometimes I think nobody ever saw me here at all

'Cept the girl from the Red River shore