I can close my eyes and it takes me back
To two young lovers on that riverbank
To the sounds of the wind and the whip-poor-will
And the way that your bare skin would feel
As we laid in the sun I could see your eyes
Blue as the blue in that Southern sky
Kisses warm as a wild red rose
At the bend in the river where the cottonwood grows

And we'd dance, and we'd sing
And we'd love each other as the pale moon glows
At the bend in the river where the cottonwood grows
At the bend in the river where the cottonwood grows

I can still recall the words you said
And the plans we dreamed as we looked ahead
But the fork in the river took us separate ways
As the years went by, I can't forget those days
And I often wonder but I'll never know
If we ended up following a different road
Would we still be laying by the wild red rose?
At the bend in the river where the cottonwood grows

And we'd dance, and we'd sing
And we'd love each other as the pale moon glows
At the bend in the river where the cottonwood grows
At the bend in the river where the cottonwood grows

I can close my eyes and it takes me back
To two young lovers on that riverbank