Well I first saw her on the Caney Fork River They said her daddy'd rather shoot her than ever forgive her Falling for one of the Macallum clan But what do you expect he's a feuding man Every day before breakfast her mother said daughter It's time you got your bucket and went to fetch water And she'd skip down the path to the cool dark eddy That fed into the Caney Fork River Caney Fork River Caney Fork River Water everywhere it's a taker and a giver She touched it to her body She touched it to her lips How I wish I was the Caney Fork River Well there's no use thinking that you won't get caught Because your lucky streak's been running on I couldn't swim so I started across Hangin on to the branches of a hollow log Well the log struck a rock and I went to the bottom And my body washed away late last autumn Spirit still lingers in the cool dark water That washes the skin of Ferguson's daughter Caney Fork River Caney Fork River Water everywhere it's a taker and a giver She touched it to her body She touched it to her lips How I wish I was the Caney Fork River x2