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.

Now, 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 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.

Instrumental break.

I'll never swim Kern River again.

An' it was there that I 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 drown in still water,

But I'll never swim Kern River again.

Trivia

The Kern River is a river in the U.S. state of California, approximately 165 miles (266 km) long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for whitewater rafting and kayaking. It is the only major river in the Sierra Nevada mountain range that drains in a southerly direction.

The Kern River formerly emptied entirely into now dry Buena Vista Lake at the southern end of the Central Valley. The river has been almost entirely diverted for irrigation, recharging aquifers and the California Aqueduct, although some water empties into Lake Webb and Lake Evans, two small lakes in a portion of the former Buena Vista Lakebed. The lakes were created in 1973 for recreational use. The lakes hold 6,800 acre feet (8,400,000 m3) combined.[4] Crops are grown in the rest of the former lakebed. In extremely wet years the river will reach the Tulare Lake basin through a series of sloughs and flood channels.

The Kern is also well known for its danger, and is sometimes known as the "Killer Kern". A sign at the mouth of Kern Canyon warns visitors, "Danger. Stay Out. Stay Alive" and tallies the deaths since 1968; as of July 12, 2010 the count was up to 251. Merle Haggard's song Kern River recounts just such a tragedy. Most of the people who die in the Kern river are campers and amateur recreational users who enter the water without proper life vests. Less than 2% of the deaths on the Kern have occurred on commercial raft trips.[8]

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