We met down where the Rio Grande flows Right off I called her my Big River Rose She was just a waitress in a honky tonk cafe I was busting all rigs on my way to Santa Fe
We talked a while and shared a jug of wine She said her life was just as blue as mine That night we got married and packed up Rose's clothes That's how I left Brownsville with my Big River Rose
We thumbed our way to Texas Rose and me We lived like prairie rabbits wild and free The weeks went by like minutes until the winter came Then I watched Rose suffering not a penny to my name
The blizzard struck at twelve one Sunday night While in a boxcar I held Rosy tight My arms were not enough for to keep my darling warm And Rosy was the victim of a howling Texas storm
So now I roam to prairies all alone Sad and hurt and lonely to the bone The pain grows still within me and only heaven knows I won't be contented till I join my Big River Rose Big River Rose Big River Rose