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 and the Ohio
The Missouri and the Cumberland, Tennessee and Illinois
Monongahela, Allegheny and the big Conoy

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