The rains have come early, they say
  We're all gonna wash away
  Well, that's all right with me
  If heaven's torrent can wash clean
  The arrogance that lies unseen
  In the damage done since we have gone
  Where we ought not to be
  Goodbye to a river
  Goodbye to a river
  So long
  
  Lakes and levees, dams and locks
  They put that river in a box
  It was running wild
  And men must have control
  We live our lives in starts and fits
  We lose our wonder bit by bit
  We condescend and in the end
  We lose our very souls
  Goodbye to a river
  Goodbye to a river
  So long
  
  The dirty water washes down
  Poisoning the common ground
  Taking sins of farm and town
  And bearing them away
  The captains of industry
  And their tools on the hill
  They're killing everything divine
  What will I tell this child of mine
  
  (Solo)
  I make a church out of words
  As the years dull my senses
  And I try to hold on to the world that I knew
  I struggle to cross generational fences
  And the beauty that still remains¡ª
  I can touch it through you
  Goodbye to a river
  Goodbye to a river
  So long
  
  Goodbye to a river
  Goodbye to a river
  So long
  
  Goodbye to a river
  Goodbye to a river
  So long
  
  Goodbye to a river
  Goodbye to a river
  Roll on