The song came and went    Like the times that we spent    Hiding out from the rain under the carnival tent    I laughed and she'd smile    It would last for a while    You don't know what you got till you lose it all again       Listen to the mandolin rain    Listen to the music on the lake    Listen to my heart break    Every time she runs away    Listen to the banjo wind    A sad song drifting low    Listen to the tears roll    Down my face as she turns to go       A cool evening dance    Listening to the bluegrass band takes the chill    From the air till they play the last song    I'll do my time    Keeping you off my mind    But there's moments that I find   I'm not feeling so strong       Listen to the mandolin rain    Listen to the music on the lake    Listen to my heart break    Every time she runs away    Listen to the banjo wind    A sad song drifting low    Listen to the tears roll    Down my face as she turns to go       Running down by the lakeshore    She did love the sound of a summer storm    It played on the lake like a mandolin    Now it's washing her away once again       The boat's steaming in    I watch the sidewheel spin    And I think about her when    I hear that whistle blow    I can't change my mind    I knew all the time    That she'd go    But that's a choice I made long ago       Listen to the mandolin rain    Listen to the music on the lake    Listen to my heart break    Every time she runs away    Listen to the banjo wind    A sad song drifting low    Listen to the tears roll    Down my face as she turns to go      -----      When the last rose of summer pricks my finger   And the hot sun chills me to the bone   When I can't hear the song for the singer   And I can't tell my pillow from a stone   I will walk alone by the black muddy river   And sing me a song of my own   I will walk alone by the black muddy river   And sing me a song of my own      When the last bolt of sunshine hits the mountain   And the stars start to splatter in the sky   When the moon hits the southwest horizon   With the scream of an eagle on the fly   I will walk alone by the black muddy river   And listen to the ripples as they moan   I will walk alone by the black muddy river   And sing me a song of my own      Black muddy river, roll on forever   I don't care how deep or wide, if you've got another side   Roll muddy river, roll muddy river, black muddy river, roll      When it seems like the night will last forever   And there's nothing left to do but count the years   When the strings of my heart begin to sever   And stones fall from my eyes instead of tears   I will walk alone, by the black muddy river   And dream me a dream of my own   I will walk alone, by the black muddy river   And sing me a song of my own, sing me a song of my own