RIO GRANDE Dave Alvin/Tom Russell (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI/Frontera Music, ASCAP) 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 Ninety 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 I 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.