Trip Downstream (Row)

In a one-woman canoe
Between the shores
An adventurer paddles the stream
'Til her muscles are sore

Avoiding the falls,
The land and the stones
The paddle wood splinters her hands
Still there's one thing she knows

Not 'cause they said she can't
Not because 'they' anything
But just for her
Because she heard the river sing:

You've gotta row...
You've gotta row...
You've gotta row

And on the twenty-sixth floor
A father paces the length of the room
His baby's cryin' with fever
He doesn't know what to do

The doctor tells him, "Just wait,
You've done all that you can"
So he sits by her little bed,
Takes his little girl's hand
And he sings to her

Row...
You've gotta row...
You've gotta row

Well we may not always be right in the water
Where if we just paddle harder we can make it through
We may not even have an oar to row with
But we can still move forward, if we choose

To come on and row...
Keep on and row...
You've gotta row

Well she came to this place
Years after he died
In his little one-man boat
She feels his spirit by her side

As she digs in for the turn
Her hand brushes her head
Feels the mark the fever left long ago
And she remembers what he said:

You've gotta row...
You've gotta row...
Yeah you've gotta row

Keep on goin' on,
Gotta keep on rowin' on.

© Rebecca Katz 2002