The rains have come early, they say
We're all gonna wash away
Well, that's all right with me
If heaven's torrent can wash clean
The arrogance that lies unseen
In the damage done since we have gone
Where we ought not to be
Goodbye to a river
Goodbye to a river
So long

Lakes and levees, dams and locks
They put that river in a box
It was running wild
And men must have control
We live our lives in starts and fits
We lose our wonder bit by bit
We condescend and in the end
We lose our very souls
Goodbye to a river
Goodbye to a river
So long

The dirty water washes down
Poisoning the common ground
Taking sins of farm and town
And bearing them away
The captains of industry
And their tools on the hill
They're killing everything divine
What will I tell this child of mine

I make a church out of words
As the years dull my senses
And I try to hold on to the world that I knew
I struggle to cross generational fences
And the beauty that still remains—
I can touch it through you
Goodbye to a river
Goodbye to a river
So long

Goodbye to a river
Goodbye to a river
So long

Goodbye to a river
Goodbye to a river
So long

Goodbye to a river
Goodbye to a river
Roll on