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"the song"
(original title "Lament for Jim Baker",
now know as "Bank Beaver Lament")

Will the whippoorwill call by the river tonight
and the big trout rise to the fly;
will old friends gather in the campfire light
as we have in the years gone by?
Will we talk small as we always have done
and pretend to change not a thing?
Will one of us there strum the guitar
and pick out a song to sing?

Oh the Manistee River runs through Deward
and the Manistee runs through Sharon;
she flows I know when we're thinking of love
and she flows when nobody's caring.

Will she run clear as Stolichnaya
from the yellow trees to the ranch;
will the beer stay cold in the Mecum Bar
when the mayflies rise to dance?

Will the weather be as unpredictable
and the fishing as well the same;
will we carry on as we always have done
and scarcely mention his name?

Oh the Manistee River runs through Deward
and the Manistee runs through Sharon;
she flows I know when we're thinking of love
and she flows when nobody's caring.

Will the solitary mink hunt on her bank
and the coyotes sing out tonight;
will bank beavers gather at their favorite hole
in the late June's warm twilight?

Will the Manistee River give us a nod
to show that she really knows
we're weaker and fewer this year by one
and trying to not let it show.

Oh the Manistee River runs through Deward
and the Manistee runs through Sharon;
she flows I know when we're thinking of love
and she flows when nobody's caring.


Music and lyrics by Jay Stielstra ©