Down by the river, the children will play
Their mothers will wash their hands from blood
Their fathers will tell them tales of the past
Their fathers will hold their hands in the dark
Little hands in the dark
Singing oh lord
Your alters are needed most near the gallows
Your alters are needed most near the gallows
Near the gallows
Near the gallows
Near the gallows
Rising from the ground up to the sky
As hanging bodies try to lie awake
And nobody knows why they are tiеd down
By the river the shorе is lined with ghosts
Too many boats never reaching a coast
And in this country, too many people drew borders that other people
Others can't cross
Down by the river the shore is lined with ghosts
That don't even know that they're ghosts
Singing oh lord
Your alters are needed most near the gallows
Your alters are needed most near the gallows
Near the gallows
Near the gallows
Near the gallows
Rising from the ground up to the sky
As hanging bodies try to lie awake
And nobody knows why they are tied down
By the river, the children will play
Their mothers will wash their hands from the blood
Their fathers will tell them, tell them tales of the past
Their fathers will hold their hands in the dark
Little hands in the dark
Singing oh darkness comes and darkness goes
But everybody knows
Lord your alters are needed most
Down, down, down by the the river