Riverbank Lyrics & Chords By John Cale

All along the riverbank
Nobody seems to know
They heard nothing, saw even less
Of the hunger in their souls

Safety first or safety last
I wish I could have helped
Those poor unfortunate widows standing
Waiting for their sailor boys
Old Madame Nhu, yes madame knew
Yes madame knew

Down they came to look around
Round that riverbank
For names or numbers or anything they could find
Written there on the wall

'Cause somebody seemed to know
But no one was prepared to tell
Anything they'd learnt to love about long ago
Anything at all they'd learnt to love long ago

With the cold people getting colder
Like babysitters in their graves
Satisfied as heretic vicars passing on

Send them running on ahead
Picking up the windy trash instead
Like foulmouthed people, open-heart surgery creatures
Crawling back inside of you

All along the riverbank
Nobody will ever know
What fools and their monies, what sailors and their honeys
Got stung one evening there

'Cause the stones around their necks
Are the stones on the riverbank
'Cause the stones around their necks
Are the stones on the riverbank