When I was quite young   I had learned to fear   I was taought to listen   But not to hear   From my mother's arms   I was cruelly torn   And they whipped my ass   On the day I was born   Little brother died   At the age of five   They said, "He lost his soul, he was not   baptized"   But the river flows   And the heavens cry    And we'll all be drowned   In the river, In the river   In the river, In the river   I remember my sister   On her saddest day   When the boy she loved   Had been called away   Seems he gave his life   In a foreign land   Still my sister cries   She never understands   Now the world is hard   And the cowards lie   And the fool loves war   And the gentle die   But the river flows    And the heavens cry   And we'll all be drowned   In the river, In the river   In the river, In the river   Well, we built a dam   When the first rains fell   We built it high   And we built it well   But the waters rose   Like a beast from hell   Now my house is gone   And the town as well   So we gather here   For a silent prayer   For the lives we lost   And the love we shared   Still the river flows   And the heavens cry   And we'll all be found   In the river, In the river   In the river, In the river