[Verse 1]
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Some of us turn off the lights and we live
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And the moonlight shooting by
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Some of us scare ourselves to death in the dark
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To be where the angels fly
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Pretty maids all in a row lined up
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Outside my cabin door
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I've never wanted any of them wanting me
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Except the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 2]
C
Well, I sat by her side and for a while I tried
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To make that girl my wife
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She gave me her best advice and she said
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Go home and lead a quiet life
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Well, I been to the east and I been to the west
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And I been out where the black winds roar
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Somehow though I never did get that far
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With the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 3]
C
Well, I knew when I first laid eyes on her
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I could never be free
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One look at her and I knew right away
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She should always be with me
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Well, the dream dried up a long time ago
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Don't know where it is anymore
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True to life, true to me
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Was the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 4]
C
Well, I'm wearing the cloak of misery
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And I've tasted jilted love
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And the frozen smile upon my face
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Fits me like a glove
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Well, I can't escape from those memories
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Of the one that I'll always adore
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All those nights, when I lay in the arms
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Of the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 5]
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Well, we're living in the shadows of a fading past
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Trapped in the fires of time
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I'd tried not to ever hurt anybody
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And to stay out of a life of crime
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And when it's all been said and done
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I never did know the score
C
One more day is another day away
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From the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 6]
C
Well, I'm a stranger here in a strange land
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But I know this is where I belong
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I'll ramble and gamble for the one I love
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And the hills will give me a song
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Though nothing looks familiar to me
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I know I've stayed here before
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Once, a thousand nights ago
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With the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 7]
C
Well, I went back to see about her once
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Went back to straighten it out
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Everybody that I talked to had seen us there
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Said they didn't know who I was talking about
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Well, the sun went down on me a long time ago
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I had to go back from the door
C
I wish I could have spent every hour of my life
C G C
With the girl from the Red River Shore
[Verse 8]
C
Now I heard of a guy who lived a long time ago
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A man full of sorrow and strife
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That if someone around him died and was dead
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He knew how to bring 'em on back to life
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Well, I don't know what kind of language he used
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Or if they do that kind of thing anymore
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Sometimes I think nobody saw me here at all
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Except the girl from the Red River Shore