If you listen,
You can hear it call: "Wail-a-ree"
(Wail-a-ree)
There is a river called "The River of No Return"
Sometimes it's peaceful
And sometimes wild and free
Love is a trav'ler on "The River of No Return"
Swept on forever
To be lost in the stormy sea
(Wail-a-ree)
I can hear the river call
(No return, no return)
No return, no return
(Wail-a-ree)
I can hear my lover call: "Come to me!"
I lost my love on the river
And forever my heart will yearn
Gone, gone forever
Down "The River of No Return"
Wail-a-ree
(Wail-a-ree)
Wail-a-reeeeee
He'll never return to me!
(No return, no return)