A                                  G                D/F#          
Baby pulled her blue dress on and walked out in the night
 A                               G               D/F#
Left one silk stocking danglin’ from the bedside light
  D                               A
I sobered up and called her name just before the dawn
   G                                        A  
I followed footprints through the sand; I knew where she had gone
              G                    A 
Down The Rio Grande…Down the Rio Grande.


[Verse 2]

  A                         G                  D/F#          
Pulled out of Albuquerque, must have been past 8:00
A                         G         D/F#          
Four cups of coffee and I hit the Interstate
D                               A
Rolling through Las Cruces, I thought I saw her car
       G                               A
She always said she’d go someday, she never said how far
              G                     A
Down The Rio Grande, Down The Rio Grande


[Chorus]

 D               G                 A
Maybe she’s in Brownsville; she’s got some family there
 D           G                A
She always talked about the salty Gulf Coast air
                 G                  A
Where the river ends, Down The Rio Grande


[Verse 3]

 A                             G               D/F#          
Saw an old grey heron flyin’ south against the wind
A                                 G              D/F#          
Storm clouds over Juarez rollin’ down to the Big Bend
    D                             A
I called her name in Esperanza’s dusty desert rain
     G                                 A   
But who knows what the hell I’d say if I found her again
            G                  A
On the Rio Grande…On the Rio Grande


[Verse 4]

  A                           G            D/F#          
Turned south on highway 90, skies began to clear
A                             G                D/F#          
Black mountains out ahead red sundown rearview mirror
  D                            A
Haunted by her dark wet skin, movin’ next to mine
   G                                          A
I swore that things would change if I could hold her one more time
              G               A
On the Rio Grande…On the Rio Grande


[Chorus]

D               G                 A
Maybe she’s in Brownsville; she’s got some family there
 D           G                A
She always talked about the salty Gulf Coast air
                 G                  A
Where the river ends, Down The Rio Grande


[Verse 5]

  A                            G                D/F#          
Bought a bottle in Del Rio I pulled out off the road
A                                 G         D/F#          
Spent the night a starin’ at the lights of Mexico
     D                           A
I walked down to border bridge around the break of day
    G                              A
I threw that empty bottle off and watched it float away
               G                   A
Down the Rio Grande… Down the Rio Grande.


[Verse 6]

D                     G                  A
Now I’m on my way to Brownsville in the Gulf of Mexico
D                     G            A
Just like that empty bottle I may sink or else I’ll flow
              G                    A
To the rivers end …Down the Rio Grande


[Verse 7]

 A                                  G               D/F#
Baby pulled her blue dress on and walked out in the night
              G                    A
Down the Rio Grande… Down the Rio Grande