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