"Roll On, Missouri, Roll On"
[Intro]
A morning mist rises over a Three Forks dawn
As the Gallatin Madison and Jefferson sing as one
A gentle light spills across cottonwood islands
As the Big Muddy begins its long and winding run
[Verse 1]
She cuts through limestone walls at Gates of the Mountains
While the echoed cries of bald eagles ride the early morning air
From Fort Benton’s old wood docks to wheat fields far beyond
The great Missouri River carries stories only time can share
[Chorus]
Roll on Missouri ... (roll on) keeper of prairies and plains
You carved great canyons before you watered the grain
From your Rocky Mountain cradle to the Mississippi's embrace
Your restless winding current writes the heartbeat of this place
[Verse 2]
Mandan earth-lodges once watched your silver ribbon shimmer
While Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea followed your winding path
Then steamboat whistles echoed across your wide expanse
Trading big city dreams for furs and freedom in the prairie grass
[Verse 3]
Through Fort Peck Lake’s wide expanse of water
Then past the Badlands of North and South Dakota
Where Lake Oahe mirrors a red hawk on the wing
And sandhill cranes and cowboys come together to sing
[Bridge]
You gather snows from the Rockies, tears from an endless sky
You bend but never break ...
...teaching us all how to survive
In every flood and drought ...
...in every shining bend
We learn that all we ever build must flow and start again
[Verse 4]
Loess Bluffs rise abruptly above your muddy waters
While the thirsty fields of the Great Plains drink your gold-silt rain
At Council Bluffs gamblers and dreamers crossed over
Then St Louis lanterns watched you meet the Mississippi plain
[Chorus]
Roll on Missouri ... (roll on) keeper of prairies and plains
You carved great canyons before you watered the grain
From your Rocky Mountain cradle to the Mississippi's embrace
Your restless winding current writes the heartbeat of this place
[Outro]
Night settles soft ... fireflies drift by the levee
Your low hush carries cottonwood song
We stand on your banks and feel the ages moving
Flow on Missouri ... flow ever strong
