Bluegrass Breakdown Ep. 5: Don't Cross the River

We all know that sometimes, bluegrass lyrics make a little less than a good amount of sense. That's what I'm here for. I will explain the meaning of bluegrass songs verse by verse. Today we visit Don't Cross the River.

Before I begin, I just know some of you are scratching your heads trying to think of a bluegrass song by that title and only coming up with the song by America.  Picture that version in your head, now add Terry Baucom's banjo style to it.

Presto.

Now, let's begin.

There's a little girl out lyin' on her own
She's got a broken heart
She's not the kind to take you down for long
She knows and plays it smart

Honesty is the best policy in this instance, for we clearly see an image of a little girl fibbing out of depression. The silver lining is that she never tells untruths too long because she's smarter than that. Be like that little girl. Stop lying. We all know the real truth.

And if she's comin' she's showed no mark
She's heard no whistle blowin' from the dark
She feels like leavin' and she don't know why
Without no bridges she's trapped, so I sigh

There is no greater rush than a songwriter writing your name into a song. "Showed no Mark". That's me!! This is my favorite verse. What the songs says is true: she never showed me she was coming just like the song says. I can vouch. Every thing seems to be quiet where she lives and the bridge is washed out anyway.

Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide
Don't try denyin' livin' on the other side
All your life
You were on your own

Sage advice for all you Olympic Swimming trainees. Michael Phelps didn't win no gold medals by denying living on the other side all his life. He spent countless hours swimming to school uphill both ways in the snow. He was on his own.

If you want you can ride my train
And soon forget the reason that you're leaving
You'll lose yourself and then sometime
Maybe even save yourself some grievin'

Just what the doc ordered: A scenic train ride to leave all your worries and cares behind. A time to actually forget that you jumped on the train to get somewhere important. Also, you always lose yourself when you're leaving and forget your train tickets on the piano at home. Maybe next time you'll save yourself the grieving for once and put them where you'll remember them.

Oh, oh, oh, oh

The jury was out on whether the actual lyrics were "Oh, oh, oh, etc." as written here, or if it was actually "Whoa, whoa, whoa, etc.".  My official committee of professional linguists, zealous poets, and unbathed hippies agreed that the actual lyrics should be read as "Oh, oh, oh" primarily because of the sharpness of the individual words and the individuality of the syllables making the overall effect more poetic than "Whoa, whoa, whoa," since that's only nonsensical verbal sounds (and not real words).

Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide
Don't try denyin' livin' on the other side
Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide
Don't try denyin' livin' on the other side
All your life
You were on your own

Let them just reiterate this sage point again and again. It bears repeating apparently.

I must admit this one was probably the hardest to interpret out of all of the Bluegrass Breakdown episodes I've had. Who could understand lyrics when the Duke of Drive himself is playing banjo over them?  Much too busy listening to the banjo work.