How old was I when I first seen Old Rivers?
I can't remember when he weren't around
Well, that old fella did a heap of work
Spent his whole life walking plowed ground
He had a one-room shack not far from us and
Well, we was about as poor as him
He had one old mule he called Midnight
And I'd trailed along after them
He used to plow them rows
Straight and deep
And I'd come along there behind
A-bustin' up clods with my own bare feet
Old Rivers was a friend of mine
The sun'd get high and
That mule would work
And Old Rivers'd finally say, "Whoa!"
He'd wipe his brow
And lean back on the reins
And talk about a place he was gonna go
He'd say, one of these days
I'm gonna climb that mountain
Walk up there among them clouds
Where the cotton's high
And the corn's a-growin'
And there ain't no fields to plow
I got a letter today from the folks back home and
They all find crops is dry
Down at the end mom said, "Son
You know Old Rivers died."
Sittin' here now in this new-plowed earth
Trying to find me a little shade
With the sun beatin' down
'Cross the fields I see
That mule, old Rivers and me
Now, one of these days
I'm gonna climb that mountain
Walk up there among them clouds
Where the cotton's high
And the corn's a-growin'
And there ain't no fields to plow
With the sun beating down
Across the fields I see
That mule
Old Rivers
And me