LET IT RIDE
(GORDON LIGHTFOOT)

As recorded Gordon Lightfoot 1986


These are just the simple facts I will relate to you
Though they are not connected, each and every one is true
If they seem a bit untidy, well unraveling them is fun
I will not stand corrected, I have not harmed anyone.

I just let it ride, ride let it ride
Leavin' the evening tide, just let it ride.

When I listen to my heart, I sometimes fail to find
One sane and simple answer, on the bright side of my mind
Even when I'm sleeping, I can't seem to unwind
I just let it ride.

I knew a man from Windsor, went to Detroit every night
And stateside of the tunnel custom agents gave him flight
He threw his stash in the river and his bedroll on the ground
And when they finally got there, a sleeping man was all that they found.

He just let it ride, ride let it ride
Leavin' on the evening tide, just let it ride.

Hear the steeple bells ring out above my lobster pots
I might be out here fishin' man, but that ain't where it stops
The mouths I feed are many and they all say thanks a lot
They just let it ride.

One day when I'm old and gray and consider what's gone by
I always will be proud of every tear I ever cried
And all of the old jokes we told around the candle light
To all those tender damsels who had helped us in the night.

They just let it ride, ride let it ride
Leavin' on the evening tide, just let it ride.

I'm gonna let it ride.

Here's to the girls from London and the ones from Montreal
We never will forget them, we still fantasize them all
I knew one in St. Louis on a Missouri afternoon
I met one up in Shanghai and another in Rangoon.

I just let it ride, ride let it ride
Leavin' on the evening tide, just let it ride
 
Ride ride ride
I'm gonna let it ride.

Leavin' on the evening tide, just let it ride.



(Transcribed by David Story - March 2013)