Lyrics
I guess she put her blue dress on and walked out late last night
Left one silk stocking dangling from the bedside light
I sobered up and called her name, just before the dawn
I saw her footprints in the sand and knew that she had gone
Down the Rio Grande
I pulled out of Albuquerque, prayin' I wasn't late
I got a couple cups of coffee at some joint off the interstate
Passin' through Las Cruces, I swear I saw her car
She always said she'd go someday, but never said how far
Down the Rio Grande
Maybe she's in Brownsville, she's got some family there
She was always talkin' 'bout the salty Gulf Coast air
Where the river ends
Down the Rio Grande
I saw an old grey heron flyin' south against the wind
Storm clouds over Juarez rollin' east to the big bend
I drove down Highway 90 through a dusty desert wind
I didn't know where it would lead me or if I'd find her again
Down the Rio Grande
I lit my last cigarette as the sky began to clear
Black mountains up ahead, a red sundown in my mirror
Lost all the border 'tween the future and the past
One fading slowly and the other comin' fast
Down the Rio Grande
Maybe she's in Brownsville, she's got some family there
She was always talkin' 'bout the salty Gulf Coast air
Where the river ends
Down the Rio Grande
I bought a bottle in Del Rio
And I parked on the side of the road
I stayed up all night starin' at the lights of Mexico
And I walked down to border bridge at the break of day
And I threw that empty bottle off and watched it float away
Down the Rio Grande
Maybe she's in Brownsville, she's got some family there
She was always talkin' 'bout the salty Gulf Coast air
Where the river ends
Down the Rio Grande
Where the river ends