Verse
C
Some of us turn off the lights and we live
F
And the moonlight shooting by
C
Some of us scare ourselves to death in the dark
G
To be where the angels fly
C
Pretty maids all in a row lined up
F
Outside my cabin door
C
I've never wanted any of them wanting me
C G C
Except the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 2]
C
Well, I sat by her side and for a while I tried
F
To make that girl my wife
C
She gave me her best advice and she said
G
Go home and lead a quiet life
C
Well, I been to the east and I been to the west
F
And I been out where the black winds roar
C
Somehow though I never did get that far
C G C
With the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 3]
C
Well, I knew when I first laid eyes on her
F
I could never be free
C
One look at her and I knew right away
G
She should always be with me
C
Well, the dream dried up a long time ago
F
Don't know where it is anymore
C
True to life, true to me
C G C
Was the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 4]
C
Well, I'm wearing the cloak of misery
F
And I've tasted jilted love
C
And the frozen smile upon my face
G
Fits me like a glove
C
Well, I can't escape from those memories
F
Of the one that I'll always adore
C
All those nights, when I lay in the arms
C G C
Of the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 5]
C
Well, we're living in the shadows of a fading past
F
Trapped in the fires of time
C
I'd tried not to ever hurt anybody
G
And to stay out of a life of crime
C
And when it's all been said and done
F
I never did know the score
C
One more day is another day away
C G C
From the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 6]
C
Well, I'm a stranger here in a strange land
F
But I know this is where I belong
C
I'll ramble and gamble for the one I love
G
And the hills will give me a song
C
Though nothing looks familiar to me
F
I know I've stayed here before
C
Once, a thousand nights ago
C G C
With the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 7]
C
Well, I went back to see about her once
F
Went back to straighten it out
C
Everybody that I talked to had seen us there
G
Said they didn't know who I was talking about
C
Well, the sun went down on me a long time ago
F
I had to go back from the door
C
I wish I could have spent every hour of my life
C G C
With the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 8]
C
Now I heard of a guy who lived a long time ago
F
A man full of sorrow and strife
C
That if someone around him died and was dead
G
He knew how to bring 'em on back to life
C
Well, I don't know what kind of language he used
F
Or if they do that kind of thing anymore
C
Sometimes I think nobody saw me here at all
C G C
Except the girl from the Red River Shore