The lights of Loredo dance on the water Shine in a young man's eyes He stands on the border and dreams of paradise He's heard crazy stories of how people live Over in the Promised Land He heard they eat three meals a day Just across the Rio Grande He's got a wife named Maria and a baby named Rose And one more the feet on the way Two willing hands that couldn't find work today He stairs at the river and curses the future that he can't understand He knows his child would have a chance Just across the Rio Grande It's only a river that's not bad deep or wide A boy can throw a stone across and reach the other side It's just a muddy water cut in trough the land But a man can't make a dream come true Just across the Rio Grande The lights of Loredo dance on the water Shine in a young man's eyes He stands on the border and stairs up at the skies The same old stars shines so bride over the Promised Land Sometimes it seems like God must live Just across the Rio Grande It's only a river that's not bad deep or wide A boy can throw a stone across and reach the other side It's just a muddy water cut in trough the land But a man can't make a dream come true Just across the Rio Grande Sometimes it seems like God must live Just across the Rio Grande