I'm backing up the lorry, can't wait for night to come
I'm sweeping out the back yard on a Friday afternoon
We'll gather round the players and we'll head off for the stars
Pack the van with poetry, drums and the guitars
We'll take Billy for the whisky, Willie for the door
We'll take Mary Kate and Lizzy for the dancing round the floor
We'll turn this empty hall into a city full of lights
And lift the summer spirits through the passing of the night
There was laughing, and there were tears
There were so many shattered hopes and dreams
But there was treasure and 40 years
In the place where the rivers run
We'll hammer on the two-step, we'll lay it on the snare
Romancing the accordion, waltzing out the aires
These sacred swaying anthems, within our lover's grasp
Stripping down the willow to the footsteps of the past
There was laughing, and there were tears
There were so many shattered hopes and dreams
But there was treasure and 40 years
In the place where the rivers run
We were kings and queens, the reels go round
It's the badge of our culture, say it loud
And it's all in the gift of the young and the proud
In the place where the rivers run
We're loading out the back door, now the hour is come
Driving through the black hills with the red and rising Sun
There's a river and a distance, far as eyes can see
Home by Kyle and Broadford round by Memphis Tennessee
There was laughing, and there were tears
There were so many shattered hopes and dreams
But there was treasure and 40 years
In the place where the rivers run
In the place where the rivers run
In the place where the rivers run
