Green River Lyrics - C.w. Mccall

(C.W. McCall, Bill Fries, Chip Davis) 

[Spoken] 

Way out in the canyons of the West, there's a wild river. The Spanish named it San Buenaventura; but we knew it as the Green. 

It was daylight on the river but we couldn't see the sun 

And we couldn't hear our voices through the roar 

But we felt the boilin' current and our blood was runnin' cold 

As we headed down the canyon of Lodore 

And the gods were runnin' with us 

On the day we ran the rapids of the Green 

[Chorus] 

And we died a thousand times in that forty miles of hell 

The longest day of life we'd ever seen 

But we lived to tell the story and we know the story well 

The day we ran the rapids of the Green 

We were thirty-two in number when we gathered on the shore 

And we headed off into the great unknown 

But we summoned up our courage an' we formed a mighty team 

And we ran that ragin' river all alone 

Yeah, the gods were runnin' with us 

On the day we ran the rapids of the Green 

[Echoing shouts.] 

And we hear a thousand echoes on the mighty canyon walls 

As we shouted from the waters far below 

And we saw the ancient warnings and we heard the ghostly cries 

Of the men who ran the river long ago 

And we prayed that they were with us 

On the day we ran the rapids of the Green 

[Echoing shouts.] 

Now the memories are swirlin' in the eddies of our minds 

But the waters of the Green are flowin' clear 

And the canyon of Lodore will be a long remembered tale 

To be told around the campfires through the years 

Yeah, the gods were runnin' with us 

On the day we ran the rapids of the Green 

[Chorus] 

And we died a thousand times in that forty miles of hell 

The longest day of life we'd ever seen 

But we lived to tell the story and we know the story well 

The day we ran the rapids of the Green 

[Echoing shouts. Fade out.]