When I was young I had a girl so prettynWhen I was young I had a girl so truenBut you left town, headed out for the citynAnd you said you were never comin back throughnnYou got a Momma and a Papa, sister and a brothernBut you aint got no friends of minenYou know I cant tell one from the othernAnd since you been gone I been losing my mindnnAnd if you find your way back to the rivernWont you wash my black water soulnCause I have found my own way back to shelternBut you wont find your way back homennI left town about a year agonI've been to New York, Shreveport, and ChicagonEvery now and then I send a postcard homenBut being gone don't change being alonennSo if you ever miss the cotten fieldsnYou can find me hangin around the moonshine stillnCome back home if your love is realnCause I aint scared of the way that I feelnnAnd if you find your way back to the rivernWont you wash my black water soulnCause I have found my own way back to shelternBut you wont find your way back homennAnd if you find your way back to the rivernWont you wash my black water soulnCause I have found my own way back to shelternBut you wont find your way back home