Old Rivers

[…]
I got a letter today from the folks back home and
They’re all fine and crops is dry
Down at the end my mama said, “Son
You know old Rivers died.”

Just sittin’ here now on this new-plowed earth
Trying to find me a little shade
With the sun beating down ‘cross the field I see
That mule, old Rivers and me.

Now, one of these days
I’m gonna climb that mountain
Walk up there amoung the clouds
Where the cotton‘s high
And the corn‘s a-growin’
And there ain’t no fields to plow.

With the sun beating down ‘cross the field I see
That mule, old Rivers and me…

– Cliff Crofford

The song was most famously recorded as a recitation by actor and recording artist Walter Brennan.