Wide River

Ma baby lives across de river
An’ I ain’t got no boat.
She lives across de river.
I ain’t got no boat.
I ain’t a good swimmer
An’ I don’t know how to float.

Wide, wide river
‘Twixt ma love an’ me.
Wide, wide river
‘Twixt ma love an’ me.
I never knowed how
Wide a river can be.

Got to cross that river
An’ git to ma baby somehow.
Cross that river,
Git to ma baby somehow—
Cause if I don’t see ma baby
I’ll lay down an’ die right now.