Lyrics
In 1846
When she was seventeen years old
She started from New Hampshire
For the cotton mills of Lowell
Down on the Merrimack River
Dark black waters roll
Down on the Merrimack River long ago
Back up on that mountain farm
She lived from hand to mouth
Now she's earning wages
Spinning cotton from the South
Down on the Merrimack River
Dark black waters roll
Down on the Merrimack River long ago
She works beside new immigrants
Who risked their lives at sea
To spin the pure white cotton
Raised by slaves in Tennessee
Down on the Merrimack River
Dark black waters roll
Down on the Merrimack River long ago
They dream in different languages
They dance in different skins
While the bankers down in Boston
Count the money rolling in
Down on the Merrimack River
Dark black waters roll
Down on the Merrimack River long ago
Now the mills are empty
Like a wound across the heart
With the heirs of slaves and immigrants
Still a thousand miles apart
Down on the Merrimack River
Dark black waters roll
Down on the Merrimack River long ago
Down on the Merrimack River
Dark black waters roll
Down on the Merrimack River long ago
Down on the Merrimack River long ago