I was sitting by a river when the thought occurred to me

There are a hundred thousand rivers that we never even see

They are the boundaries of all we know of truth and right and wrong

And I have written some examples for you here within my song

Some are bridged and some are forded, some are swollen from the rains

Some are the ultimate result of all our joy and all our pains

But when the rivers in your life are full and starting to wash down

You've got to drink up the river before you drown



Chorus: You've got to drink up the river,

You've got to drink up the river,

You've got to drink up the river before you drown

You've got to drink up the river,

You've got to drink up the river,

You've got to drink up the river before you drown!



And through our nation's history, her times of peace and war

An overwhelming wave of misery has washed up on our shore

They did not ask for any fortune, just a corner and a plate

And how they shone with pride and honor as they made our country great

But migrants now are deportees, and more are turned away

We've forgotten it's the immigrants who made our fame today

Our salvation is that flood: white, yellow, red,