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 gray 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