Girl who lived near that river shore

You don't get it till you lose it
But by then its past the hour
Has anyone ever felt this?
The sweetness in your mouth turn sour

There is a whole lot I want to write about
My hearts like a well stocked emotion store
There was a time when someone wanted this and didn't get it
It was the girl who lived near that river shore

Some of us turn off the lights and we live
In the moonlight shooting by
Some of us scare ourselves to death in the dark
To be where the angels fly

Pretty maids all in a row lined up
Outside my cabin door
I've never valued any of them wanting me
Except the girl who lived near that river shore

Well I sat by her side and for a while I tried
To make that girl my wife
She gave me her best advice and she said
"Go home and lead a lonely life"

Well I've been to the east and I've been to the west
And I've been out where the black winds roar
Somehow though I never did get that far
With the girl who lived near that river shore

Well I look back now and think
Of how I treated her and the wrongs I have done
I want to blame my pain on somebody else
But now I look around to find only me and no one

She only expected me to love her the way she deserved
And I kid myself saying I was so different at my core
But I've learnt the hard way what I really wanted
Was to make a queen, of the girl who lived near that river shore

Well I knew when I first laid eyes on her
I could never be free
One look at her and I thought right away
She would always be with me

Well that dream dried up a long time ago
Don't know where it is anymore
True to me, but truer to her life
Was the girl who lived near that river shore

Well I'm wearing the cloak of misery
And I've tasted jilted love
And the frozen smile upon my face
Fits me like a glove

Well I can't escape from the memory
Of the one that I'll always adore
All those nights when I lay in the arms
Of the girl who lived near that river shore

Well we're living in the shadows of a fading past
Trapped in the fires of time
I've tried not to ever hurt anybody
And to stay out of the life of crime

But when it's all been said and done
I never did know the score
And now each new day is another day away
From the girl who lived near that river shore

Well I'm a stranger here in a strange land
But I know this is where I belong
I ramble and gamble for the one I love
And these hills will give me a song

Though nothing now looks familiar to me
I know I've lived there before
Once a thousand nights ago
With the girl who lived near that river shore

Well I went back to see about her once
Went back to straighten it out
Everybody that I talked to had seen us together
Said now they didn't know who I was talking about

Well the sun went down on me a long time ago
I've had to pull back from the door
I wish I could've spent every hour of my life
With the girl who lived near that river shore

Now today its all different
I know now how I treated her all wrong
But she doesn't know it 'cuz now she is too distant
I wish I could stir her heart with this song

I don't deserve another chance with all I've done
But that doesn't stop me from yearning for an encore
I am sure I will keep someone happy forever and do everything
If she only resembles the girl who lived near that river shore

Now I've heard about a guy who lived a long time ago
A man full of sorrow and strife
That if someone around him died and was dead
He knew how to bring him on back to life

Well I don't know what kind of language he used
Or if they do that kind of thing anymore
Sometimes I think nobody ever saw me at all
Except the girl who lived near that river shore