Lyrics Where the River Meets the Road - Tim O'Brien

Where the River Meets the Road

I came here from Ireland by way of Baltimore
I rode the train one hundred miles and and I walked one hundred more
I could smell the smoke a-pourin' off those iron mills
Before I even saw the town from the top of Wheeling hill
Where the river meets the road, where the river meets the road
On the eastern bank of the Ohio, where the river meets the road
They’ve grown this town by leaps and bounds
Since they built that Cumberland road
The railroad came in fifty-three and they’re pushin' on I’m told
They built a big old iron bridge that faces to the west
But I stayed here for a job of work, I think it worked out best
Where the river meets the road, where the river meets the road
On the eastern bank of the Ohio, where the river meets the road
I met a lass at Sunday Mass, she was singin' in the choir
Her father worked as a blacksmith, with a bellows, hammer and fire
I started out as a roustabout, at night my back would throb
But I made a plan and I won her hand when I got my scrivener’s job
I tithe to church, I pay my bills and send the rest back home
I put roots down in Wheeling town and never more will roam
We’re raisin' sons and daughters now, for them I will provide
I’ll teach them how to read and write and to walk these streets with pride
Where the river meets the road, where the river meets the road
On the eastern bank of the Ohio, where the river meets the road