3 Contributors

On The Red River Lyrics

[Verse 1]

There's a mid-July whitetail in velvet

Red as your old Chevrolet

And I was sixteen when you wrecked it and we

Were lucky we both walked away

And you could day work and scrape out a living

The work for which you had been born

You were quick with a laugh and forgiven

And tied hard and fast to the horn

We had Kelpies and good Quarter Horses

We had wheat pasture yearlings tied down

We learned pain was the price of admission

And you're never done paying it down

[Chorus]

Back on the red river, not hard to remember

When your daddy wouldn't ever get old

When I saw the world from up on your shoulders

I remember the view, when you live like we do

Death doesn't leave with the best part of you

[Verse 2]

On days off, we'd help out our neighbors

And we smiled and we sweated for free

You'd earned every drink with your labor

And I'd sleep on your front seat 'til 3

And you'd call it a cure for a snake bite

And reach for a fifth of Old Crow

Some medicine should get your head right

When your symptoms were starting to show

[Chorus]

Back on the red river, not hard to remember

When your daddy wouldn't ever get old

When I saw the world from up on your shoulders

I remember the view, when you live like we do

Death doesn't leave with the best part of you

[Verse 3]

And there are pickups lined up down the driveway

Have I really been gone for two years?

I'd be on my third on a good day

I find my last bottle of beer

I guess Saturday started without you

I knew before I got the call

The red July bucks are in velvet

I'll tell you about 'em this fall

[Chorus]

Back on the red river, not hard to remember

When your daddy wouldn't ever get old

I got a look at the world from up on your shoulders

I remember the view, when you live like we do

Death doesn't leave with the best part of you

[Outro]

Got a look at the world from up on your shoulders

I remember the view, when you live like we do

Death doesn't leave with the best part of you