Key: B
Introduction: Bm D Bm D
Bm D
Well, I was eighteen, my brother was twenty-one.
Bm D
One Saturday evenin' when all the work was done,
A G
We went down to the river. Had some trot lines we'd run.
Bm D
My brother Walter had a fight the week before.
Bm D
Knocked a boy name Wilson through the pool hall doors.
A G
They said you don't mess with Wilson unless you want a war.
Bm D
I put the boat in the water and I made the engine run.
Bm D
I loaded the lantern against the sinkin' sun.
A G
And my brother Walter was loadin' his gun...
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And we went down the river...
Bm D
Down past the coal docks we were runnin' our line.
Bm D
Heard some drunken boaters racin' up behind.
A G
It was Wilson and his cousin, had trouble on their mind.
Bm D
They passed on by us, probably goin' to tend their pot.
Bm D
We headed up the river with the fish that we'd caught but,
A G
Before we made the landing, I thought I heard a shot...
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Back down the river...
Bm D
Well my brother Walter fell over the side.
Bm D
I couldn't find him no matter how I tried
A G
And I looked along the bank but couldn't find where they hide.
Bm D
Well the drugged the river, they searched it up and down.
Bm D
Couldn't find his body so they decided that he'd drowned,
A G
But I knew better and Wilson bragged around town.
Bm D
So one night I floated down right above Wilson's shack.
Bm D
I hid in the woods til I saw him walk out back.
A G
I put a bullet in his head, dropped him in his tracks...
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And we went down the river...
Bm D
Down below the tressel, where the water runs slow,
Bm D
I chained him to an anvil then I let him go.
A G
And five years later, I ain't told a soul.
Bm D
I ain't done much fishin', hardly wet a line.
Bm D
The death of my brother is still heavy on my mind.
A G
I've been thinkin' Wilson's cousin better find a place to hide...
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Cause I'm goin' down the river...yeah, I'm goin' down the river.