Down to the River

from The Hymns of Sorrow by Jack Harlan

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lyrics

Standing in a hallway
Of an Empire of Emptiness
There's an October wind through my doorway
Like a ghost of the wilderness
Well my existence is tremblin’ right down to my bone
When you really get down to it
All I got left is silver and gold

I'm going down to the river
In the pale moonlight
If my Lord it don’t deliver
The river's gonna swallow me tonight

When I was much younger
Hey man I never count a wasted day
Just always bought another
When you’re young you buy
The days with pocket change
Had a hand full of women
And a diamond cane at my side
Now these days when I'm taking the women home
There just ain’t no honey in their pie

That's why I'm going down to the river
In the pale moonlight
If my lord it don’t deliver
That river's gonna swallow me tonight

God send me a word
And won't you make it straight and true
I don’t care what it is
As long as it ain’t something that I’m used to

Got an imported ceiling
I got seven guest rooms
Ten different tailors
My clothes have been woven on a golden loom
I got everything you probably ever wanted
But that’s all my life can lend
I got a million connections
But I ain’t got no friends

So I'm going down to the river
In the pale moonlight
If my Lord it don’t deliver
The river's gonna swallow me tonight

credits

from The Hymns of Sorrow, released March 28, 1996

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about

Jack Harlan Calgary, Alberta

Lyrical firestorms, foot stomping and soft introspection of Alternative Folk, Indie & Experimental Roots.

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