Jason Isbell - River Lyrics

The river is my savior

'Cause she used to be a cloud

She's happy just to lay there

When she used to be so proud

And even when she dries up a thousand years from now

I'll lay myself beside her and call her name out loud



The river is my savior

The only one I'll ever need

Wash my head when I've been sinning

Wash my knuckles when they bleed

Protect me from my neighbor

All his jealousy and greed

Take the body to the delta

Hide the weapon in the weeds



But now I'm tired and a little bit confused

Regarding what I meant to do and what I did

The men I've hired, they all seem to be afraid of me

They turn their eyes away from me like kids



The river hears my secrets

Things I cannot tell a soul

Like the children that I've orphaned

And the fortune that I stole

The neighbor who asked questions

'Til he washed up on the shore

But I've done the law some favors

So nobody has to know



Now I'm tired and I just can't get to sleep

I've been a wolf among these sheep for all my life

The lake of fire it consumes me in my dreams

And last night I woke up screaming at my wife



The river is my savior

She's running to the sea

And to reach her destination

Is to simply cease to be

And running 'til you're nothing

Sounds a lot like being free

So I'll lay myself inside her

And I'll let her carry me