Lyrics to
River Boy

This version of River Boy was released by Waylon Jennings in 1970.

Our Waylon Jennings Songs profile has River Boy lyrics from 1970 and most if not all of the lyrics by Waylon Jennings that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Waylon Jennings or about the 1970s in general.

I was born and raised on the river
It’s the only life that I know
People ’round here have put a name on me
And I hear it wherever I go
They call me river boy, river boy
Good for nothin’ river boy
This old world don’t hold a whole lot of joy
When you’re nothin’ but a river boy
I do a lot of fishin’ on the river
To make my livin’ you see
When I take my catch to the market place
The people call out to me
And they say, river boy, hey river boy
You got any fish today there, river boy
I sell my ware, but nobody cares
About the feelin’s of the river boy
There’s a pretty girl works at the market place
I see her there everyday
But when I try to talk to her
I can hear her papa say
Come away from that River boy, he’s a river boy
Nothin’ but riff-raff, them river boys
No girl of mine is gonna waste her time
On a good for nothin’ river boy
So I head my boat back up the river
Back to my old fishin’ place
I’m afraid this ol’ river’s gonna overflow
From the tears a-fallin’ down my face
I’m nothin’ but a river boy, river boy
A good for nothin’ river boy
This old world don’t hold a whole lot of joy
When you’re nothin’ but a river boy
River boy, river boy
A good for nothin’ river boy
River boy

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Want more lyrics and songs by Waylon Jennings?

Waylon Jennings has released many songs over the years besides River Boy. Waylon Jennings released songs from 1964 to 1972 spanning across albums like JD's, Leavin' Town, Folk-Country, Nashville Rebel, Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan, The One And Only, Love Of The Common People, Only The Greatest, Jewels, Hangin' On, Just To Satisfy You, Country-Folk, Waylon, Singer Of Sad Songs, Don't Think Twice, The Taker/Tulsa, Cedartown, Georgia, and Good Hearted Woman. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Waylon Jennings.

If you're a fan of 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1970 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and River Boy by Waylon Jennings

The lyrics to River Boy are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Waylon Jennings in 1970. Elements of the lyrics to River Boy are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Waylon Jennings and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for River Boy back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to River Boy by Waylon Jennings in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to River Boy" means the words set to the music of River Boy, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Waylon Jennings. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to River Boy and the lyrics to River Boy are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Waylon Jennings who came here looking just for the lyrics to River Boy, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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