James Keelaghan River Run
River of blue cut through the valley Swept past the willows and the sandy bar Ran so swift, locked in my mem'ry But the way things were is not the way things are We used to swim in the crook of its arm In the summer heat who could be blamed Avoided the rapids as best as we could Never thought that that stream could be tamed Long ago I gave up that riverside valley Traded coulees for towers of steel Abandoned the vistas and valleys of childhood For the things that they told me were real No more would I run with the speed of a colt Cross the gravel down by water side To race with the twig I threw in at the bend Couldn't beat it though god knows I tried Now the river's not running as fast as it did There's a dam there restricting the flow And I don't run either as fast as I could Guess that river and I have grown old Now it's strange in returning to places of youth It seems your memory has made a mistake Cause the place that once scared you with white water running Has been turned by decree to a lake Makes me think about how too I smoothed out the wrinkles Made the waters as calm as you please Makes me think about how that river and I Were both happier when we ran free Now the river's not running as fast as it did There's a dam there restricting the flow And I don't run either as fast as I could Guess that river and I have grown old Guess that river and I have grown old
