If you listen, you can hear it call
Wail-a-ree (wail-a-ree)
There is a river called the river of no return
Sometimes it's peaceful and sometimes wild and free!
Love is a trav'ler on the river of no return
Swept on for ever to be lost in the stormy sea (wail-a-ree)
I can hear the river call (no return, no return)
No return, no return (where the roarin' waters fall wail-a-ree)
I can hear my lover call come to me (no return, no return)
I lost my love on the river and for ever my heart will yearn
Gone gone for ever down the river of no return
Wail-a-ree [wail-a-ree] wail-a-re-e-ee
She'll/He'll never return to me! (no return, no return, no return)