Merle Haggard – Kern River, is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers. It was released in July 1985 as the only single and title track from his album Kern River. The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.
Content
The song grimly recounts the story of the singer’s girlfriend drowning in the Kern River, California. In the 2013 biography Merle Haggard: The Running Kind writer David Cantwell calls the track “a scary record” that “screamed quiet and startled you alive.”
Merle Haggard – Kern River
from the album Kern River
B-side “Old Watermill”
Released July 1, 1985
Genre Country
Length 3:23
Label Epic
Songwriter(s) Merle Haggard
Producer(s) Grady Martin
COUNTRYPEDIA
Merle Haggard – Kern River Lyrics
I’ll never swim Kern River again
It was there that I met her
It was there that I lost my best friend
And now I live in the mountains
I drifted up here with the wind
And I may drown in still water
But I’ll never swim Kern River again
I grew up in an oil town
But my gusher never came in
And the river was a boundary
Where my darlin’ and I used to swim
One night in the moonlight
The swiftness swept her life away
And now I live on Lake Shasta
And Lake Shasta is where I will stay
There’s the South San Joaquin
Where the seeds of the dust bowl are found
And there’s a place called Mount Whitney
From where the mighty Kern River comes down
Well, it’s not deep nor wide
But it’s a mean piece of water, my friend
And I may cross on the highway
But I’ll never swim Kern River again
I’ll never swim Kern River again
It was there I first met her
And it was there that I lost my best friend
Now I live in the mountains
I drifted up here with the wind
And I may drown in still water
But I’ll never swim Kern River again
I’ll never swim Kern River again
It was there I first met her
It was there that I lost my best friend
Now I live in the mountains
I drifted up here with the wind
And I may cross on the highway
But I’ll never swim Kern River again
GENIUS
