Cash, Johnny - Big River Lyrics

jus caught an Johnny Cash TV show on a rerun...he sang another verse he said was excluded due to making song too long...about Natchez and leaving in the rain.....anybody know the lyrics...I like singing this song

ok found it on youtube

Here from an NCIS episode

Fuck man what a tune. A song about the mighty Mississippi with pure GOLDEN lyrics. This song is a masterpiece. Inspired me to ply guitar

One of the top ten best songs in the history of the universe.

Finaly a song with Minnesota I. It

............:)

Only cash can make up words sound great i love him what a genius GENIUS !!!!$

it dont say"i walked up the block...it says up the bluff....the person who made the vid got it wrong

I wonder, how the music world would look like if there was no Johnny Cash.

One of the greatest songs ever written by the greatest artist ever! The Man in Black will still be played in a hundred years.

The line at 1:18 is "but she just walked of to bluff"

I don’t think he is gonna change it because the video is 8 years old

I love it

he could give you blues and then take them away

Love this song used to listen to it all the time when I was 5 years old

2019! Who's with me?!

THE BEST

Nothing beats Johnny Cash

This like the top 10 most awesome song

Now this is country i’m a huge fan of Johnny Cash one of the best songs I hear

This is one of my very favorite Johnny Cash songs from the 50s.
I think the song is every bit as good as "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis.
I appreciate your posting of the lyrics but there are a few lines that are wrong.
It should be "and she just walked up the bluff" (a steep bank) instead of "block".
And also it should be, "later on, down the river" instead of (down the road).
No offense intended, but if lyrics are going to be posted, they should be correct. It's not that hard to find correct lyrics for a song.
I appreciate your post and it is the best posting of the song. Thanks!

Southern Draw !

That guitar gets my heart racing and my blood pumping every single damn time, no matter how many times I listen to it. This song is just stupidly addicting, I don't know what to do with myself

NO!!!!!!!!! She didn't "walk up the block" she "walked up the BLUFF"! She walked up the bluff and then she went on down alone. She threw herself into the river, you dumb ass. She killed herself. And was washed on down the river. That is what the song is about!

favorite cash song.

The east has the Appalachian Trail.
The west has the Pacific Crest Trail.
We need a Big River Trail.

This is one of the harder rock n roll songs of its day I reckon

Dump my blues down in the "Gulf"-- i.e. the Gulf of Mexico, into which the Mississippi River drains

later on down the "river," just walked up the "bluff"

just another day killin Viet Cong and drinkin beer!

I love the start from the song

I started listening to Johnny when I saw the movie Walk the Line. I was 9 then. What always drew me to his music is how the songs are so simple, yet so genius. Once youve heard it, you will remember the words and the rhythm forever. At the same time, the melody and words reach deep down to your heart. That is something I only find rarely in music.

a powerful man with a powerful voice

I'm not sure the lyrics are quite right

My girlfriend is so ungrateful some times that she starts screaming at me pushing and hitting me then I just put my ear phones in and blast this go for a skate and I'm all good... big river and cry cry cry. The best no doubt

I love the intro

Who could down vote this! Souless.

One of my favourites! The Man In Black will live on forever through his music.....RIP ♥

Johnny the man in black ☺

Johnny Cash is fire!

I found a nice cover of this right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEolc23wP5g

Great rock n' roll song!

Those lyrics just kick my ass every time.   I'd have left that old gal right after Davenport.

Haven't heard this in years, thanks for posting.

Songs don't get better than this.

God I love Johnnys music. From a fan in England

Tom Petty brought me here!! :)

damn son

"I taught the weeping willow how to cry, and I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky." What a brilliant lyric.

the only country music actually worth listening to. the man was actually living it

You should listen to some waylon jennings

her drawl?

A southern drawl. It's when your vowel sounds are drawn out.

Rock n roll🔥

Tom Petty brought me here. He said if you listen to this song about 60 times, you'll learn how to write a good song. RIP Mr. Petty.

who else loves the way Johnny sounds in this version

then again I love how he sounds in every song

@Jace Lipp 😆

either I'm stupid or Luther perkins was drunk af while playing this I like fucking naild it aND im super drunk

I just played this and I loved it. R.I.P Johnny

The line is " she just walked up the BLUFF" referring to Memphis' nickname of the Bluff city

Johnny Cash is a genius songwriter is all. Rest in peace Glen Campbell.

Goodbye if you are reading this in other year this is 2017

Just started getting into Johnny cash where the hell has this great music been all my life I hate knowing that this generation will never produce anything close to the masterpieces that Johnny has created RIP Johnny Cash you will live forever through your musical ability and inspiration

love his music the man in black I have every thing of him

"If you want to write a song, listen to Big River about 60 times. After that, a song is bound to come out" Tom Petty

How do you write a song based on another song and not copy it 🤔

@Dreymon Green Not based on, inspired by. If you can't possibly come up with inspiration from songs, especially this one, you've no imagination

So damn true, R.I.P Tom Petty.

Dreymon Green the same way you can stare at a lake all day then write a song about a mountain

he was right. I miss Tom and Johnny, rest in peace legends 🎸🎵🔥

Thank,s Barbara , good job, many greetings from Romania ...And Mr Cash I,m grateful for all ..

I can't stop listening to this song

I don't know what kind of person I would be without Johny Cash!

For some reason the line "I showed the clouds how to cover up the clear blue sky" I always thought he was saying "I shot the krauts under cover of the clear blue sky" I don't know why lol

GREAT CASH TUNE THANKS SCOTT BUCK

I wonder what music would sound like now if there was no Johnny Cash

Collin Mason thank GOD we don’t have to know... a history with out the Man in Black... NO!

Probably crap

country music would have became rap around 1995

JulesHD I shudder to think of it

That’s a world I don’t want to live in

THE song for any guy who's had his heart broken by a woman.

Appreciate the upload. A lot of the lyrics are wrong though

some of his music are boring just like telling a story he must be a narrator

A lot of his songs start with that same guitar part or very similar lol its awesome

It sets up the train sound I think

also as much as it sounds great Luther wasnt a star guitarist....that sound is all they knew.... course if youve been to a chuck berry concert all intro and solos are similar....most audience arent musicians and could care less

just saying

think there is some lyrics wrong on this ..

"I heard my dream went back downstream, cavorting in Davenport, and i followed you big river when you called."
Only Johnny could come up with word play like that. Fucking pure musical genius.

Willy wrote the song Big River.

You're smoking Willie's bio-diesel; Cash wrote it.

Robert Murray https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_River_(Johnny_Cash_song)

Songwriters - Johnny Cash

VIVA ROBERT E. LEE. VIVA JOHNNY CASH!!!

Good to know that general Lee has good taste in music

is there perhaps a better quality version?

forsure, alot of his songs have multiple recordings

@Stev
im talking about a higher quality sun version (this one). this video is kind of low quality, and I can kind of hear some kind of faint echo. i analized it in audacity, and everything above 8k is gone.

It was recorded in 1958 buddy. Sure you could find a better version done up by someone else with pro tools or a cover but this is one of the best american songs ever written. If you can't appreciate it with it's "LOW QUALITY" with 1958 recording material....then I can't help you as a music fan. This is real. There is no HIGHER QUALITY Sun records version this was the cut released to the radio by Sun Records. Jesus what more do you want the song was recorded in 1958 AND recorded damn well for the time.

I like this song

don't mess with the CASHES

big river

and I'm going to sit hear till I die

Damn cool lyrics. Blues stuff actually. Though the music isn't it excactly. Excellent song.

Jumpmaze was here.

Stop obsessing about the lyrics. There is a long history of classic songs, classic shanties, classic folk songs having their lyrics evolve over the years by various people that cover them putting a little unique spin on them, either intentionally or not. It's just part of the organic music experience. I wouldn't worry about it.

Now I taught the weeping willow how to cry,
And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky.
And the tears that I cried for that woman are gonna flood you Big River.
Then I'm gonna sit right here until I die.

I met her accidentally in St. Paul (Minnesota).
And it tore me up every time I heard her drawl, Southern drawl.
Then I heard my dream was back Downstream cavortin' in Davenport,
And I followed you, Big River, when you called.

Then you took me to St. Louis later on (down the river).
A freighter said she's been here but she's gone, boy, she's gone.
I found her trail in Memphis, but she just walked up the block.
She raised a few eyebrows and then she went on down alone.

Now, won't you batter down by Baton Rouge, River Queen, roll it on.
Take that woman on down to New Orleans, New Orleans.
Go on, I've had enough; dump my blues down in the gulf.
She loves you, Big River, more than me.

Now I taught the weeping willow how to cry, cry, cry
And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky.
And the tears that I cried for that woman are gonna flood you Big River.
Then I'm gonna sit right here until I die.

NO!!!!!!!!! She didn't "walk up the block" she "walked up the BLUFF"! She walked up the bluff and then she went on down alone. She threw herself into the river. She killed herself. And was washed on down the river. That is what the song is about!

NO!!!!!!!!! She didn't "walk up the block" she "walked up the BLUFF"! She walked up the bluff and then she went on down alone. She threw herself into the river. She killed herself. And was washed on down the river. That is what the song is about! @HoboTango

NO!!!!!!!!! She didn't "walk up the block" she "walked up the BLUFF"! She walked up the bluff and then she went on down alone. She threw herself into the river. She killed herself. And was washed on down the river. That is what the song is about! @Jah89bless

@Zeke Smith jeeze man we get it no need to say it three times

@gator dragon I am on a crusade. People must be brought the correct understanding of this important lyric! Truth matters!

I always thought it was a grateful dead original

+John Guillemette I love the dead. But I think 80% of their songs (At least live) are covers. Great covers of Great Songs, but lots and lots of covers. Not complaining......want to make that clear. They picked great songs to cover and payed them great homage.

It's close to 2:1 in favor of originals, actually...especially once Pig was gone.

Yeh man if you're gonna put a video up with lyrics then at least get the lyrics right!! Few errors here! Great song though!

The lyrics are wrong. :/

+Raven Rockz how is it wrong ?

It is bluff, not block. Memphis is on a bluff. The song is about a woman who commits suicide. "She just walked up the bluff, she raised a few eyebrows and then she went on down alone." That's why the river takes "that woman on down to New Orleans, New Orleans," and then his blues are dumped "down in the gulf."

@Devan Yates Ah damn, well thanks !

You know Iv been listening to Johnny Cash since I was young, I never realized what hes actually talking about in some of his songs, like this one. Haha, thanks for the info.

This is the version of this song by Johnny that I like best "Well I taught the weeping willow how to CRY CRY CRY " ! The other cuts don't say that. Thanks for the post !

+Bill Brower actually, the 1964 version says that...

+William Hunt to be fair though, when he was performing live, he didnt always say cry cry cry

he never preformed this version live.

@William Hunt ah, maybe.

great tune.

Might it be bluff instead of block?
And gulf

NO!!!!!!!!! She didn't "walk up the block" she "walked up the BLUFF"! She walked up the bluff and then she went on down alone. She threw herself into the river. She killed herself. And was washed on down the river. That is what the song is about! @Sweeps McCullough

@Zeke Smith You're both right AND wrong. 'She just walked up the BLUFF' is correct; but the song is NOT about a woman who kills herself. Don't know where you got that from.
'She went on down alone' simply means she walked DOWN the bluff, NOT 'she threw herself into the river'. ...'River Queen, rollin' on; take that woman on down to New Orleans, New Orleans' - the 'River Queen' here is a paddle steamer/ship which the woman is aboard, heading to New Orleans. And 'she loves you big river more than me' simply means what it says - the songwriter is in pursuit of the woman but she keeps one step ahead of him, on board the 'River Queen' sailing the river.

@Devan Yates You're incorrect. The 'river' DOESN'T take 'that woman on down to New Orleans, New Orleans'; the RIVER QUEEN takes her there - the River Queen being the name of a paddle steamer/ship. The song is NOT about a woman who kills herself. Listen to the lyrics properly FFS

Yes you are correct

@Zeke Smith Thank you. Now I'm more confused than ever.

Pick it, Luther!

anyone ever hear bob dylans version? i dont want to devalue johnny cash at all but those bob dylan bootlegs are some good stuff

+Steven Richmond but johnny the og

Johnny Cash was the man!

Still is

BlackSunshine1231 *is

My blues down in the gulf*

My favorite Johnny Cash song

gary anderson This is my favorite song period

General Lee's got more melody so I prefer it.

gary Anderson same

Reminds me of Cry Cry Cry

It's because he said I tourt the weeping willow to cry cry cry and same legond singing it

CookieTV! I'm pretty sure they are from the same album as we

ITS YA BOI actually it's the same chords just a different beat

Cry cry cry was actually on the flip side

From Davenport (D-Port for the locals) and now representing Saint Paul.  I still convort in Davenport. ;)  --- on that Big River!

Classic.

A great song. Very evocative. And no chorus! 

this is the version

You got some of the words wrong but still...

How can the lyrics be wrong?? Johnny is singing a song he wrote.

northerntraveller He obviously meant the person who uploaded the video got some of the lyrics wrong

yes 1 time he writes down the road but it´s down the river but who cares :)

She didn't "walk up the block" she "walked up the BLUFF"! She walked up the bluff and then she went on down alone. She threw herself into the river. She killed herself. And was washed on down the river. That is what the song is about!