talking columbia

well

down along the river just a-sittin' on a rock

i'm a-lookin' at the boats in the bonneville lock

gate swings open

the boat sails in

toot that whistle

she's gone again

gasoline goin' up. wheat comin' down

well

i filled up my hat brim

drunk a little taste

thought about a river just a-goin' to waste

thought about the dust

an' thought about the sand

thought about the people

an' thought about the land

folks runnin' round all over creation

lookin' for some kind of little place

well

i pulled out my pencil

scribbled this song

figured all them salmon just couldn't be wrong

them salmon fish is mighty shrewd

they got senators and politicians

too

just about like the president. they run every four years

you just watch this river

though

pretty soon

everybody's gonna be changin' their tune

the big grand coulee and the bonneville dams

run a thousand factories for uncle sam

and everybody else in the world. turnin' out

everything from fertilizers to sewing machines

and atomic bedrooms and plastic

everything's gonna be plastic

uncle sam need houses and stuff to eat

uncle sam needs wool

and uncle sam needs wheat

uncle sam needs water and power dams

uncle sam needs people

and the people need land

'course i don't like dictators none myself

but then i think the whole country had ought to be run by e-lec-trici-ty