Old riverman's lonesome old riverman's blue
He's a-workin' on the river with the riverman blues
On a liquid highway that's a riverman's home
And home is where the heart is and he's all alone
But when he hears that steamboat whistle blow
He can feel that river in his soul
Old riverman's lonesome old riverman's blue
He's a-workin' on the river with the riverman blues

Three thousand miles old riverman goes
Down the Mississippi River and the Ohio
The Missouri and the Cumberland Tennessee and Illinois
Monongahela Allegheny and the big Conoy
But you just watch that old riverman's eyes
He always knows when the river's gonna rise
Old riverman's lonesome old riverman's blue
He's a-workin' on the river with the riverman blues