I was sitting by a river when the thought occurred to me
There are a hundred thousand rivers that we never even see
They are the boundaries of all we know of truth and right and wrong
And I have written some examples for you here within my song
Some are bridged and some are forded, some are swollen from the rains
Some are the ultimate result of all our joy and all our pains
But when the rivers in your life are full and starting to wash down
You've got to drink up the river before you drown

Chorus: You've got to drink up the river,
You've got to drink up the river,
You've got to drink up the river before you drown
You've got to drink up the river,
You've got to drink up the river,
You've got to drink up the river before you drown!

And through our nation's history, her times of peace and war
An overwhelming wave of misery has washed up on our shore
They did not ask for any fortune, just a corner and a plate
And how they shone with pride and honor as they made our country great
But migrants now are deportees, and more are turned away
We've forgotten it's the immigrants who made our fame today
Our salvation is that flood: white, yellow, red