One by one, the stitches came unties
One by one, the patterns told me lies
I laid to rest that feedsack dress
And the name I sewed inside
Laid it down in the cedar chest
Where I laid that child
One by one, the letters burned his name
One by one, on the fairytales I'd made
He knelt down on my daddy's land
Where we counted stars in vain
And tied his vow upon my head
With a piece of string
And oh, that rivers keeps a runnin' on
A silent k**er pushin' toward the dawn
And every flower I saw growin' along
Has up and washed away
One by one, my babies found their feet
One by one, I sang them all to sleep
Their daddy sang with whiskey breath
And aces up his sleeves
It hurt like hell the day he left
But he had to leave
And oh, that rivers keeps a runnin' on
A silent k**er pushin' toward the dawn
And every flower I saw growin' along
Has up and washed away
One by one, the thimble and the string
One by one, the needle ran between
I fixed that mess, that old sack dress
That smelled liked evergreen
I laced it up and lost my breath
Oh, it wasn't me
And oh, that rivers keeps a runnin' on
A silent k**er pushin' toward the dawn
And every flower I saw growin' along
Has up and washed away