Jerico Springs

[Verse 1]
My boots were cooked with cloud gray dust
And mouth craves something cool
Went around the bend the road cut in
By clear blue spring fed pool
As I knelt to cool my sunburned brows
One color caught my eye
And reflected there was a tall young girl
Against the clear blue sky

[Verse 2]
I turned to find dark eyes behind
A small face, golden tan
The sunlight softened in her hair
As she brushed a fallen strand
"It's hot", she smiled, "I know a set
Of cool water's a welcome change"
She raised her head and then she said
"When it comes from Jerico Springs"

[Chorus]
Where the Ozark breeze blows soft in the trees
The thresh and the bluebirds sing
At the end of the world, a show-me girl
Walks down by Jerico Springs

[Verse 3]
Through longer days my wandering ways
Were lost, forgotten things
I found a room in the nearby town
Called Jerico by the Springs
And I walked a girl with the honey blonde hair
And eyes, blue crystal bright
Through July haze of butterfly days
And July firefly nights

[Verse 4]
To my surprise, in her innocent eyes
A love began to grow
And one night by the spring, as a bullfrog sing
I promised I'd never go
For the cold old world seemed far away
And it could not match the things
I've found in the love of a show-me girl
On the banks of Jerico Springs

[Chorus]
Where the Ozark breeze blows soft in the trees
The thresh and the bluebirds sing
At the end of the world, a show-me girl
Walks down by Jerico Springs

[Verse 5]
It was plain to see how she cared for me
But as we walked out one day
I teased her saying I planned to leave
Just to see what she would say
Big, salt tears came in her eyes
And before I could explain
She turned and ran into the woods
That lay by Jerico Springs

[Verse 6]
Well, I called and called her soft, sweet name
And I followed the best I could
But I soon was lost in the tall dark trees
In the silent, gray-green wood
By the time I found that rock dust road
The sun was going down
And in half light, in thread of night
I walked on back to town

[Verse 7]
When the sun was rising new and red
At my door came a knock
I stumbled through the still dark room
And I fumbled at the lock
"I'm sorry, sir", the stranger said
"It's sad news that I bring
But a girl's been found, face down and drowned
In the waters of Jerico Springs"

[Outro]
Where the Ozark breeze blows soft in the trees
The thresh and the bluebirds sing
At the end of the world, a show-me girl
Sleeps down by Jerico Springs