Some of us turn off the lights and we live
In the moonlight shooting by
Some of us scare ourselves to death in the dark
To be where the angels fly

Pretty maids all in a row lined up
Outside my cabin door
The only one of them I ever wanted wanting me
Was the girl from the Red River shore

Well, I sat by her side and for a while I tried
To make that girl my wife
She gave me her best advice and she said
"Go home and lead a quiet life"

Well, I've been to the east and I've been to the west
And I've been out where the black winds roar
Somehow, though, I never did get that far
With the girl from the Red River shore

I knew when I first laid eyes on her
I could never be free
One look at her and I just knew
She should always be with me

Well, the dream dried up a long time ago
Don't know where it is anymore
True to life, true to me
Was the girl from the Red River shore

Well now I'm wearing the cloak of misery
And I've tasted jilted love
The frozen smile upon my face
Fits me like a glove

Well I can't escape from the memory
Of the one that I'll always adore
All those nights when I was in the arms
Of the girl from the Red River shore

Well, we're living in the shadows of a fading past
Trapped in the fires of time
I've tried not to ever hurt anybody
And to stay out of a life of crime

When it's all been said and done
I never did know the score
One more day is another day away
From the girl from the Red River shore

Well, I'm a stranger here in a strange land
But I know this is where I belong
I'll ramble and I'll gamble for the one I love
And the hills will give me a song

Nothing looks familiar to me
But I know that I've stayed here before
Once, a thousand nights ago
With the girl from the Red River shore

Well, I went back once to see about it
I went back to straighten it out
Everybody that I talked to had seen us there
Said they didn't know who I was talking about

Sun went down on me a long time ago
I've had to fall back from the door
I wish I could have spent every hour of my life
With the girl from the Red River shore

Now, I've heard of a guy who lived a long time ago
A man full of sorrow and strife
That if somebody around him died and was dead
He knew how to bring 'em on back to life

Well, I don't know what kind of language that he might have used
Or if they do that kind of thing anymore
Sometimes I think nobody ever saw me here at all
Except the girl from the Red River shore