By the banks of the river

 

   D                                   D - G                                       D      - G - D

1.    By the banks of the river    where the willows lay down,

                                       Bm     - G                                  D

    and the wild birds all hover,           with a lonesome sound.

                            Bm      - G                                           D

    Down in some hollow,          where the waters run past,

                        C           - G            A                  D      - G - D         

    there I first listened        to the lies that you told.

 

                                D  - G                                     D     - G - D

2. Now I lie on my bed,     and I see your sweet face,

                          Bm       - G                        D

    the past I remember       time cannot erase.

                                Bm         - G                              D

    The letters you wrote me,       were written in shame,

                                        C                - G         A               D     -  G-D

    and I know that your conscience        still lets go my name.

 

                                         D     -   G                                 D    - G - D

3. Oh, the nights are so long,         Lord, sorrow runs deep,

                              Bm   - G                                     D

    and nothing is worse       than a night without sleep.

                       Bm   - G                       D

    I walk out alone,       I look at the sky,

                                  C     - G         A            D - G - D

    too lonesome to sing,        too empty to cry.

 

                                   D            - G                                  D           - G-D

4. If the ladies was blackbirds       and the ladies was bushes,

                                Bm   - G                               D

    IŽd lay there for hours        in the chilly cold notions.

                                   Bm       - G                            D

    If the ladies was squirrels        with light bushy tails,

                        C        - G               A                  D         - G - D

    I`d fill my shotgun       with the rocks of the names.

 

    (Joan Baez)