Sunday, December 21, 2008

Merle Haggard Kern River

The great Merle Haggard grew up not far from where I did in the Central Valley. He's best known for his Muskogee song, but I especially love this song:



I'll never swim Kern River again.
It was there that I met her.
It was there that I lost my best friend.
And now I live in the mountains.
I drifted up here with the wind.
And I may drown in still water,
But I'll never swim Kern River again.
I grew up in an oil town,
But my gusher never came in.
And the river was a boundary,
Where my darlin' and I used to swim.
One night in the moonlight,
The swiftness swept her life away.
And now I live on Lake Shasta,
And Lake Shasta is where I will stay.

There's the South San Joaquin,
Where the seeds of the dust bowl are found.
And there's a place called Mount Whitney,
From where the mighty Kern River comes down.
Now, it's not deep nor wide,
But it's a mean piece of water, my friend.
And I may cross on the highway,
But I'll never swim Kern River again.

I'll never swim Kern River again.
It was there that I met her.
It was there that I lost my best friend.
And now I live in the mountains.
I drifted up here with the wind.
And I may drown in still water,
But I'll never swim Kern River again.
Instrumental break.

I'll never swim Kern River again.
An' it was there that I met her.
It was there that I lost my best friend.
Now I live in the mountains.
I drifted up here with the wind.
And I may drown in still water,
But I'll never swim Kern River again.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Don!

Your post made me think of this song - a classic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEo8poVlQrM

Rebecca

Donald Pretari said...

Rebecca,

Thanks. I love it.

Take care,

Don