Bruce (U. Utah) Phillips

By the banks of the river where the willows grow old
And the wild birds warble the strange sounds so
By the banks of the river where the waters run cold
'Twas there I first listened to the lies that you told

Now I lay here each night all alone and I weep,
And nothin' ain't worse than a night without sleep.
The letters you wrote me, they were written in shame,
But I know that your conscience still it holds my name.

If the ladies were blackbirds and the ladies were thrushes
I'd lay for hours in the cold rainy marshes
If the ladies were squirrels with big bushy talls
I'd fill up my shotgun with rocksalt and nails.

I'd load that old shotgun with rocksalt and nails.

Note: Transacribed from Steve Young's album "Rock, Salt & Nails"
originally released in 1969.

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On the banks of the river where the willows hang down
And the wild birds all warble with a low moaning sound
Down in the hollow where the water runs cold
It was there I first listened to the lies that you told

Now I lie on my bed and I see your sweet face
The past I remember time cannot erase
The letter you wrote me, it was written in shame
And I know that your conscience still echoes my name

Now the nights are so long Lord sorrow runs deep
And nothing is worse htan a night without sleep
I'll walk out alone and look at the sky
To empty to sing to lonesome to cry

If the ladies was blackbirds and the ladies was thrushes
I'd lie there for hours in the chilly, cold marshes
If the ladies were squirrels with high bushy talls
I'd load up gun with rocksalt and nails.

Note: Version that appears on Utah Philips' Web site with
copyright dates of 1973 and 2000. Variations of this version
appear on a number of other sites around the Net.