Lyrics

I’m a man of the river written by Bob Ferguson. 2012. D

Verse 1
Many long years ago, when I was just a lad.
I’d wait beside the river, to welcome home my dad.
The sails of his tall ship, would rise above the waves.
My mother would come running, to stand beside me there.

Chorus
I’m a man of the river, by the river I’ll stay.
I’ve lived this life, all my days,
And when I breathe no more, it has to be this place.
Where the grasses and the flowers, grow o’er me every day.

Verse 2
When I was ten years old, my father said to me.
Son when you grow, never work upon the sea.
When I was twelve years old, I went down to the quay.
I said, sorry father, but it’s always been in me.

Verse 3
I lived the life my father loved, and it took its hold on me.
The oceans took my father, to the bottom of the sea.
When the sun climbs out of the waves, the tall ships sail away.
And I am just an old man, standing by the quay.

Verse 4
The tall ships they sail on by, to them I bid adieu.
And all the bonnie laddies, that sail on them too.
They ring the bell and shout ahoy, to this old sailor lad.
I wish that this old river, would give back the life I knew.