Karaoké Down the River Chris Knight

I was eighteen my brother was twenty-one

One Saturday evening when all the work was done

We went down to the river had some trot lines to run

My brother Walter had a fight the week before

Knocked a boy named Wilson through the pool hall door

They said you don't mess with Wilson unless you want a war

I put the boat in the water and I made the engine run

I loaded the lantern against a sinking sun

And my brother Walter was loading his gun

And we went down the river

Down past the coal docks we were runnin' our lines

Heard some drunken boaters racin' up behind

It was Wilson and his cousin had trouble on their minds

They passed on by us probably goin' to tend their pot

We headed up the river with the fish we'd caught

But before we made the landin'

I thought I heard a shot back down the river

My brother Walter fell over the side

I couldn't find him no matter how I tried

And I looked along the bank but I couldn't find where they'd hide

They drug the river

They searched it up and down

Couldn't find his body so they decided that he'd drowned

But I knew better

And Wilson bragged around town

So one night I floated down right above Wilson's shack

I hid in the woods 'till I saw him walk out back

I put a bullet in his head and dropped him in his tracks

And we went down the river

Down below the trestle where the water runs slow

I chained him to an anvil and then I let him go

And five years later

I ain't told a soul

I ain't done much fishing

I hardly wet a line

The death of my brother is still heavy on my mind

I've been thinking

Wilson's cousin

Better find a place to hide

'Cos I'm going down the river

Yeah, I'm going down the river