Lyrics

Cross That River

Mama said a white man
be comin' in the mornin'
Gonna drag Big Daddy away
Sold him to the next farm,
gonna breed him to the stock there
I guess that's where he's gonna stay

They took Baby Sister up to the big house
Learned her to cook and mend their things
Some times in the late night underneath the staircase
Sister rocks herself to sleep

They say there's an old man
Who'll take you cross that river
Nobody knows his name
Some time around the full moon
Better make it to that river
and hide along the bank
Till he whispers your name
Cross That River

Dogs caught a runaway down on the south fork
Mama said it's gonna be OK,
but we heard than man screamin'
Till the early mornin'
Lawd it kept us all awake

I know there's a free place,
way across that river
Where the wild ponies run and play
One day I'm gonna get there,
if it takes me a lifetime
A lifetime of being a slave