Roll On Big River

Peter Frothingham

Way up north where the cold winds blow

The snow falls down on Ontario

For ages and ages it's all been melting down

Filling up the valleys and the canyons around

There's a lake they call Ataska

Water filled her to the shore

Something had to give she couldn't hold any more

Like a mother to her daughter

She said it's time to set you free

I'm going to let you go now

Don't stop until you find the sea

Roll on big river--roll on big river

Roll on big river to the sea

She started out reckless

She was young you know

Didn't have any fear

Just didn't know where to go

She just kept on pushing onward

Sometimes rushing sometimes slow

All the way down to the Gulf Of Mexico

Now the years have brought their changes

She's hemmed in on every side

With bridges and fences and highways

And all those city lights

She used to be a wild thing

Now she feels the strain

Of the factories pumping chemicals in her

Like a needle in some junkies' veins

But the day is going to come

I know it's just around the bend

When she's not going to take any more

And her water's going to rise again