My mama run off with a Bible salesman
Daddy didn't come back from the Korean War
My mama's mama took me in
To save me from sin
The kind she says sweet Jesus died for
Now one day she said "We're goin' down to River"
Got loaded up in her old Pontiac
"Before the next sunrise
"Gonna get you baptized
"And by the way, your mama ain't comin' back"
Now when we get down to the river, a man is in the water
He's like a ghost in a suit of clothes old and gray
There was people standin' 'round
Yeah this Okie is Glory-bound
He raised up his head and he began to pray
He said "This river runs red
"This river runs red
"This river runs red like Jesus' blood
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up these old bones from the cold cold mud"
"Let me tell you," he said, "about Revelations
"Chariots of fire and a promised land
"Be washed in the blood of the Lamb
"Or else you'll be goddamned
"Repent for the kingdom is at hand
Then the people start shouting "hallalujah"
Come on, come on sweet heavenly host
Old women begin to cry
Throwing their hands up in the sky
It was a full-tilt rapture of the Holy Ghost
"This river runs red
"This river runs red
"This river runs red like Jesus' blood
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up these old bones from the cold cold mud"
"This river runs red
"This river runs red
"This river runs red like Jesus' blood
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up these old bones from the cold cold mud"
Now I got baptized that Sunday morning
I guess it didn't take, as I look back
'Cause when I turned fifteen
I just seemed to get mean
And I stole my mama's mama's Pontiac
I took me a little drive up the south side of Tulsa
I satisfied and moved in with a woman, sweet Lorraine
Talkin' tough and breaking rules
Bein' hip, slick and cool
At twenty-two I was doin' a little cocaine
My luck run out one night in Knoxville
"Not less than ten" is what the judge said
Now it happens every night
When they turn out the lights
I can't stop the voices in my head
"This river runs red
"This river runs red
"This river runs red like Jesus' blood
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up these old bones from the cold cold mud"
"This river runs red
"This river runs red
"This river runs red like Jesus' blood
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up these old bones from the cold cold mud"
"This river runs red
"This river runs red
"This river runs red like Jesus' blood
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up these old bones from the cold cold mud"
"This river runs red
"This river runs red
"This river runs red like Jesus' blood
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up these old bones from the cold cold mud"
"This river runs red
"This river runs red
"This river runs red like Jesus' blood
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up these old bones from the cold cold mud"
"This river runs red
"This river runs red
"This river runs red like Jesus' blood
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up the dead
"We're gonna raise up these old bones from the cold cold mud"
