Glad you mentioned the song, Sharon. I hadn't taken the time to listen closely to "So Sang the River." It's a great song. I live near the American River, where the 1849 gold rush started. Seems to me there ought to be more songs that mention this beautiful, historic river.
-Joe Offer-

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SO SANG THE RIVER
(Bill Staines)

I am the Missouri and I travel on down,
Across the Dakotas by the midwestern towns.
Oh, I water your farms with my silvery hand,
And forever I'll travel in the heart of the land.

I am the Ohio and my water is wide.
By the banks of Kentucky, I travel with pride.
From the old Allegheny forever I'll run,
And I'll carry your people in the light of the sun.

So sang the river, as its waters glided low,
So sang the river, I've a long, long way to go.

I am the border, the old Rio Grande.
My waters they cut through the southwestern land.
From the deserts and the badlands through the canyons so deep,
I'll stretch my green ribbon and I never will sleep.
chorus

I am the American and I carry the gold.
In the hills of California my story was told,
Of how men with the fever fell on me like rain,
And dug for my treasure 'til nothing remained.
chorus

I am the Hudson, the Merrimac too,
The Snake and the Pecos, the Green and the Blue,
And my waters, they run just as sure as a song,
And forever I'll sing if you let me live on.
chorus

© Mineral River Music/BMI

From the 1998 Red House CD, One More River