Lyrics
[verse]
There stands a house down by the river bend
They call it the ruin of the young
My mother warned me of its bitter end
But I was foolish, I was young
My father lost his fortune at the door
Of cards and chances, dust and smoke
He never came back home to us no more
His promise was a promise he broke
[verse]
So I walked in with nothing but my name
And traded it for velvet and for gold
I traded it for glory, then for shame
Until my story wasn't mine to hold
The candles burn all night behind those walls
Where fortunes turn to ashes by the dawn
I heard the wind moan through the empty halls
Singing of the innocence long gone
[chorus]
Oh mother, tell your children, one and all
Don't wander where the river bends and moans
There's a house that answers every call
And leaves you with your echoes and your bones
The house down by the water, dark and grand
Has swallowed up the dreams of half the land
[verse]
Now I'm standing at the station in the grey
Waiting for the train that's pulling out
I'm going back to where I ran away
To tell the tale, to end the lonesome doubt
Oh mother, tell your children, one and all
Don't wander where the river bends and moans
[chorus]
Oh mother, tell your children, one and all
Don't wander where the river bends and moans
There's a house that answers every call
And leaves you with your echoes and your bones
The house down by the water, dark and grand
Has swallowed up the dreams of half the land
