There is a river runnin' through this town
It carries the water
There isn't any way to slow it down
Or make it stop
I was a baby when the big bridge fell
So I don't remember
But I have listened to the stories well
And so I know they were falling to the surface
They were calling to their God
And their cry was
Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us - save us
Sweet Jesus, please won't you hear us crying

Fishing for luck beneath the bridge that day
A man in his eighties
He saw it happen and began to pray
As he dove in
He found a mother and her baby boy
They both wouldn't make it
The mama handed him her only joy
He took the child - then he was swimming
Like he was twenty
He made shoreline then he died
And his thoughts were

Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us - save us
Sweet Jesus, please won't you hear us crying
He was crying

I miss my mother and the brave old man
Though I never knew them
They are the soul inside the man I am
I bare their dreams
And I am walking in their footsteps
I am talking to their God
And my cry is

Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us - save us
Sweet Jesus, please won't you hear us
Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us - save us
Sweet Jesus, please won't you hear us crying
We're all crying

There is a river runnin' through this town
It carries the water
There isn't any way to slow it down
Or make it stop.