When I was born I was running
As my feet hit the ground
Before I could talk I was humming
An old railroad sound
Things didn't get much better
When by the age of five
They found me walking into Clarksdale
Trying to keep my friends alive

No time for celebration
Now there's no known cure
Seeing I was born and raised
On the wrong killing floor
And my loved ones gathered round
To see if the experiment had worked
I was misplaced out of time
Never rich - never worse

Oh, momma, please now don't cry for me
Tears to the river - tears to be free

And I see twelve white horses here walking in line
Moving east across that river bridge
On highway forty-nine
And standing in the shadows of a burnt-out motel
The King of Commerce, Mississippi waiting with his hound from hell
Oh, a shiny neon riverboat taking income from the poor
It's floating by the levee in an artificial pool
There's a six-mile tailback back out on junction 304
A stranger at the crossroads
I believe I'd seen his face before
Oh, don't cry for me
Tears fill the river - tears to be free

Oh, I'm sad to be leaving
The sun's gone down, and I've really got to go now
Sad to be leaving
The sun's gone down - I've really got to go now
Yeah, really got to go now
Ahh, I've got to go - I've got to move
I’ve got to move, yeah, ah

Sad to be leaving
Sun's gone down - I've really got to go now
Sad to be leaving
The sun's gone down, and I've really got to go now
Yeah, really got to go now
Ohh

[Guitar solo]

Sad to be leaving
Oh, sun’s gone down – I’ve really got to go now
Sad to be leaving
The sun's gone down, and I've really got to go now
Yeah, really got to go now
Yeah, oh, got to go now
Yeah, ah, oh, got to go now, yeah
[Guitar solo]