I've been riding hard toward the borderline, I am a wanted man
From San Antonio across the Eagle Pass, down to the Rio Grande
Oh black river you stand in front of me on a moonlit night
If I don't get across, they'll hang me up high
I may be guilty but I'm not ready to die
For three days now I've been running for my life, posse right on my tail
Just this morning ran my horse into the ground, back there along the trail
It was nightfall when I fell upon the bank, along the riverside
Oh black river, so deep and so wide
And I know my freedom lies on the other side
If I could go back to yesterday, If I could turn back the time
I would take it back and, they would still be breathing
They would still be alive
No time to contemplate, not place to hide, riders on the ridgeline
I can see them, silhouettes in the night, got to make up my mind
Oh black river you stand in front of me on a moonlit night
If I don't get across, they'll hang me up high
And I don't know if I can swim to the other side
She was all my hopes and dreams, to take her for my wife
She promised love forever, but I found them together
In a rage I took their lives
