Don't Cross The River
Written by Dan Peek, ©1972
Found on Homecoming, History, America's Gold, The Very Best Of America, Horse With No Name, Heard, Highway, The Definitive America, The Complete Greatest Hits, Homecoming-DVD-Audio, and Here & Now.

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

(Ah--) 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

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

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'

Oh, oh, oh, oh

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
Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide
Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide
Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide ...

Highway Highlight (from the box set booklet) The next single released from Homecoming was Peek's "Don't Cross The River," a countrified number lent extra twang by guest player Henry Diltz's banjo. "That was another love song for my future wife," Dan says. "The idea behind the title was, 'Go or get off the john'; it almost became a cliche in its own right. Where the country influence came from, I don't know, other than that, growing up on air bases over the years, there was a lot of country music played on the base radio stations. Dewey and Gerry used to make fun of me and mock the song and compare it to 'Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town.' But, eventually, Dewey told me it was one of the best songs he'd ever heard. One time we were watching college football on TV, and Alabama had a big banner up that said, 'Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide,' referring to the Crimson Tide. I thought that was pretty cool." "Don't Cross The River" reached #35 in March of '73.