On the banks by the river there's a house with a yard
And a mother turns away as her son falls apart
The faded red paint tells a story 'bout despair
And about people that just don't care
On a hill there lives a man who worked hard all his life
So he and his wife could enjoy their old age
When retirement came his wife gets ill and dies
Now he walks by the river and cries
And the ancient river, the ancient river she flows
The ancient river, divides the valley in two
The ancient river flows down the valley of hopes
And each day down the river, someones dreams flows away
There's a rock for every dream that got tossed
And stone for each soul that got lost
Where the river meets the sea there's an old ruined shed
Where a peasant kept his tools and his animals got fed
He was a well known drunk, when he began he couldn't stop
One night he fell into the river and never came up
The ancient river, the ancient river she flows
The ancient river, divides the valley in two
The ancient river flows down the valley of hopes
And each day down the river, someones dreams flows away
There's a rock for every dream that got tossed
And stone for each soul that got lost