Mike wrote this song some time ago, after reading "Goodbye to a River" - a book by John Graves, published in 1960. It is a "semi-historical" account of a canoe trip made by the author during the fall of 1957 down a stretch of the Brazos River in North Central Texas, between Possum Kingdom Dam and Lake Whitney that was slated to have as many as 13 dams built along it. He really needs to sing this one more often... sigh.

GOODBYE TO THE RIVER

He went back to the river with his Old Town canoe, that his father had bought when they both were young
He put in his pack, with his rod and his tack and his 12 gauge Remington gun
He watches the pup run along by the shore
Everything's wondrous and new
Thinks of old times and seasons of change Remembers when he was young too

River of darkness, river of light, river so wild and free
Out from the hills 'cross the West Texas plains, rolling down to the sea.

The sounds of the river flow thru his mind, like the stories his grandfather told
And clouds drift by on November's winds, life and the river move slow
Darkness surrounds him with the coming of night
The pup is asleep by the warm fireside
As the embers sparkle and flicker and fly
As they dance their dance cross the sky

River of hardship, river of strife, river so wild and free
Out from the hills 'cross the West Texas plains, rolling down to the sea

He pulls into the reeds at dawn's early light, the canvasbacks fly on their way
He picks up his gun, then puts it back down, there'll be no killing today
As the panorama before unfolds,
A tapestry woven in silvers an golds
A vision of life that few will see
And he feels wild and free

River of history, river of life, river so wild and free
Out from the hills 'cross the West Texas plains, rolling down to the sea

He climbs the embankment to get to the road, hitch into town, and gives a call home
I'll be back in a while, but I don't know quite when, I'll be on the river 'till then
For they're building the dams at Monk and Shalan,
And everything south of the Possum King Dam
Will no longer be wild, and no longer be free
As it slowly flows to the sea

River of darkness, river of light, hardship and toil, history and life
Meandering memories abide every bend
He's saying goodbye to the river
He's saying goodbye to a friend