Text: Jim Croce. The 50th Anniversary Collection. Cotton Mouth River.

Well, I know that I shouldn't have done it
I know that it just wasn't right
'Cause they got me back up to the Cotton Mouth River
And I can't cross late at night

I hear there's lots of stories told about the Cotton Mouth River
They tell them time and again
About the men who tried to cross that river by moonlight
And never were heard from again

If I had my live to live over
I'd have gone to work that day
Instead of going into town and shooting him down
For a thing I never heard him say

I hear there's lots of stories told about the Cotton Mouth River
They tell them time and again
About the men who tried to cross that river by moonlight
And never was heard from again

Well, I just made it through the cane break
And I got one foot in the mud
I can hear the hounds obeying but the snake around my ankles
Telling me my running days are done

I hear there's lots of stories told about the Cotton Mouth River
They tell them time and again
About the men who tried to cross that river by moonlight
And never were heard from again

I hear there's lots of stories told about the Cotton Mouth River
They tell them time and again
About the men who tried to cross that river by moonlight
And never were heard from again