Old riverman's lonesome, old riverman's blue,
He's working on the river, with the riverman blues.
On the Lakeview Highway, that's the 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 working on the river, with the riverman blues.
Three thousand miles old riverman goes.
Down the Mississippi River, amd the Ohio,
The Missouri and the Cumberland, Tennessee and Illinois,
Monongahela, Allegheny, and the big Kanawha.
But you just watch that old riverman's eyes,
He always knows when the river's going to rise.
Old riverman's lonesome, old riverman's blue,
He's working on the river, with the riverman blues.
He's working on the river, with the riverman blues.