Red River Valley
American Traditional, 1800’s· Songs Well-Known in America · p.266
E B7 E
From this valley they say you are going,
B7
We will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile;
E E7 A
For they say you are taking the sunshine
E B7 E
That has brightened our pathways awhile.
Chorus:
B7 E
Come and sit by my side, if you love me,
B7
Do not hasten to bid me adieu,
E E7 A
Just remember the Red River Valley,
E B7 E
And the cowboy who loved you so true.
I've been thinking a long time, my darling,
Of the sweet words you never would say,
Now, alas, must my fond hopes all vanish?
For they say you on are going away. (Chorus)
Do you think of the valley you're leaving?
Oh how lonely and how dreary it will be.
Do you think of the kind hearts you're breaking?
And the pain you are causing to me? (Chorus)
They will bury me where you have wandered
Near the hills where the daffodils grow,
When you're gone from the Red River Valley,
For I can’t live without you I know. (Chorus)
* The earliest written manuscript of the lyrics, titled "Red River Valley", bears the notations 1879 and 1885 in
locations Nemha and Harlan in western Iowa, so it probably dates to at least that era. – www.wikipedia.org