The good and the bad always comes from upstream
When it's good it's never as good as it seems
You're either swimmin' or sinkin' and there's no in between
I looked to the river for a whole lot more
Just like my daddy and his daddy before
Waitin' on our dreams to wash up on the shore
We quit school and got married too soon
Convinced ourselves it was the right thing to do
But we knew in our hearts it was cause we had to
When every job on land in this town fell dead
I promised you I'd find something instead
But had nowhere else to turn when somebody said... hey
The river's workin'
Yeah the river's workin'
And if you wanna be a workin' man
You gotta break your back and bruise your hands
So get on board and be glad you can
And forget about the promised land... cause
The river's workin'
I wake up in the mornin' to the engines churnin'
Six hours off and six hours burnin'
Thinkin' bout home and when this boat will be turnin'
Life on a tug is way too slow
When you're fightin' the current and the water's too low
With a thousand more miles and a month to go
I see deckhands and pilots way past their prime
After all these years they still don't have a dime
And we're all gettin' old before our time
But, if you ain't workin' you're just livin' a lie
And if you ain't livin' you're just waitin' to die
So you roll with the flow and you don't ask why... when
The river's workin'
Yeah the river's workin'
And if you wanna be a workin' man
You gotta break your back and bruise your hands
So get on board and be glad you can
And forget about the promised land... cause
The river's workin'
And if you wanna be a workin' man
You gotta break your back and bruise your hands
When you can't do what you want, you do what you can
So forget about the promised land... cause
The river's workin'
You better take it, boy
I can't wait to get home to kiss your face
Tell our baby I'll be home soon