Riverside
The Sweet Lowdown Lyrics

Hot night at the riverside,
It was a warm night by the river.

Bellies full of gin,
They had drank enough gin to satisfy their thirsts.

We gave it not a moment’s thought
They did not think before they jumped into the water.

We both jumped in,
They both jumped into the river.

There was moonlight on the water,
The light of the moon shone on the river.

Moonlight on our skin,
They felt the moonlight on their skin.

We pretended at no modesty as
They didn't pretend to be modest as

We both jumped in,
They both jumped into the river again.

There were stars above,
They saw stars in the sky.

And rocks below,
There were rocks under the water.

The water was fast,
The current of the water was quick.

Oh, the water was cold,
The water was very cold.

A’ ho, ho, ho.
This is a refrain used throughout the song - it has no specific meaning.

Landing in the water,
They had landed in the river.

I realized my mistake,
One of the swimmers realized they had made a mistake in jumping in the river.

For just to make it back to shore,
It would require a lot of strength to return to shore.

All my strength would take,
It would take all of their strength to return to shore.

Struggling in the current,
They were struggling to swim in the river's current.

I swam hard for the shore,
They swam hard in an attempt to make it back to shore.

Cross my heart and hope to die,
They swore an oath to underline the veracity of their statement.

Never swam so hard before,
They had never swam so hard before in their life.

And the water was cold,
The water was extremely cold.

It stole my breath and
The water took their breath away.

Shocked my soul
The experience shook them to their core.

Black wings on the water,
The darkness of the river was all-encompassing.

Shadows on the ground,
The shadows of the night made it difficult for them to see.

Calling in the darkness,
They heard something calling out in the darkness of the night.

Silence all around,
Despite hearing the mysterious voice, there was an eerie silence around them.

‘Till my body started to quake,
The experience made their body shake.

How long on the longest night will it take the light to break,
They questioned how long it would be until the daylight returned on such a long, dark night.

Won’t the daylight break…
They hoped that the day would come soon.

As one was lost
One of the swimmers was lost.

And the other cried no, no, no, no.
The survivor was heartbroken and cried out in despair.

His body let go
The body of the lost swimmer stopped fighting.

Moonlight on the water,
The light of the moon still shone on the river.

As two jumped in,
The surviving swimmer still remembered the moment they both jumped into the river together.

And there were stars above,
The stars were still in the sky, despite the tragedy that had occurred.

As one was lost,
One of the swimmers was no longer with them.

His body let go,
The lost swimmer no longer had the strength to continue.

A’ho, ho, ho.
This is a refrain used throughout the song - it has no specific meaning.