[Verse 1]
Mary, grab the baby, river's rising
Muddy water taking back the land
Old frame house, she can't take one more beating
It's no use to stay and make a stand
Well, the morning light showed water in the valley
Daddy's grave just went below the line
Things to save, you just can't take them with you
The flood will swallow all you leave behind

[Chorus]
Won't be back to start all over
Because what I felt before is gone
Mary, take the child, river's rising
Muddy water taking back my home

[Steel Guitar Solo]

[Verse 2]
The road is gone, there's just one way to leave here
Turn my back on what I've left below, oh
Shifting lands, broken farms around me
Muddy waters changing all I know
Hard to say just what I'm losing
I've never felt so all alone
Mary, take the child, river's rising
Muddy water taking back my home
[Fiddle Solo]

[Chorus][x2]