Intro:  Bm  D  Bm  D 

Bm                         D 
Well, I was eighteen, my brother was twenty-one. 
Bm                         D     
One Saturday evenin' when all the work was done,  
    A                                G           
We went down to the river. Had some trot lines we'd run. 

Bm                       D 
My brother Walter had a fight the week before.  
Bm                          D 
Knocked a boy name Wilson through the pool hall doors. 
      A                                G 
They said you don't mess with Wilson unless you want a war. 

Bm                                 D 
I put the boat in the water and I made the engine run. 
Bm                     D 
I loaded the lantern against the sinkin' sun. 
    A                      G 
And my brother Walter was loadin' his gun... 
    D   A             Bm   D   Bm  D 
And we went down the river... 

Bm                       D 
Down past the coal docks we were runnin' our line. 
Bm                           D 
Heard some drunken boaters racin' up behind. 
         A                          G 
It was Wilson and his cousin, had trouble on their mind. 

Bm                      D  
They passed on by us, probably goin' to tend their pot. 
Bm                      D 
We headed up the river with the fish that we'd caught but, 
  A                             G 
Before we made the landing, I thought I heard a shot... 
D     A        Bm  D  Bm  D  A  G 
Back down the river... 

Bm                           D 
Well my brother Walter fell over the side. 
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I couldn't find him no matter how I tried 
       A                          G 
And I looked along the bank but couldn't find where they hide. 

Bm                                 D 
Well the drugged the river, they searched it up and down. 
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Couldn't find his body so they decided that he'd drowned, 
A                              G 
But I knew better and Wilson bragged around town. 

Bm                                 D       
So one night I floated down right above Wilson's shack. 
Bm                        D 
I hid in the woods til I saw him walk out back. 
          A                    G 
I put a bullet in his head, dropped him in his tracks... 
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And we went down the river... 

Bm                                 D 
Down below the tressel, where the water runs slow, 
Bm                         D 
I chained him to an anvil then I let him go. 
     A                G 
And five years later, I ain't told a soul. 

Bm                          D 
I ain't done much fishin', hardly wet a line. 
Bm                                 D 
The death of my brother is still heavy on my mind. 
            A                              G 
I've been thinkin' Wilson's cousin better find a place to hide... 
       D         A        Bm      D         A              Bm 
Cause I'm goin' down the river...yeah, I'm goin' down the river. 
D  Bm (repeat)