by Gary Chapman



There is a river running through this town

It carries the water

There isn't any way to slow it down

Or make it stop

I was a baby when the big bridge fell

So I don't remember

But I have listened to the stories well

And so I know

They were falling

To the surface

They were calling

To their God

And their cry was



Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us, save us

Sweet Jesus, please won't you hear us crying



Fishing for luck beneath the bridge that day

A man in his eighties

He saw it happen and began to pray

As he dove in

He found a mother and a baby boy

They both wouldn't make it

The mama handed him her only joy

He took the child

Then he was swimming

Like he was twenty

He made shoreline

Then he died

And his thoughts were



Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us, save us

Sweet Jesus, please won't you hear us crying

He was crying



I miss my mother and the brave old man

Though I never knew them

They are the soul inside the man I am

I bear their dreams

And I am walking

In their footsteps

I am talking

To their God

And my cry is



Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us, save us

Sweet Jesus, please won't you hear us crying

Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us, save us

Sweet Jesus, please won't you hear us crying

We're all crying



There is a river running through this town

It carries the water

There isn't any way to slow it down

Or make it stop