[Verse 1] I grew up on the South Side docks Steel wind cut through my coat Daddy worked them freightyard nights Mama prayed we'd stay afloat Winters hung like heavy clouds Gray as the factories' smoke But come March the city woke again Like some old promise spoke [Verse 2] My brother said, “Come downtown, kid There’s something you gotta see.” Boats were drifting under State Street Bridge Crowds deep as a prairie sea Then a man poured dye in the water Like a secret nobody knew And that cold gray river of Chicago Turned a wild and shining green hue [Chorus] Oh the green river runs through Chicago town Past the steel and the old rail line For one bright day the winter fades And the whole world feels just fine Raise a glass to the working souls Who keep this old town alive When the green river runs on Saint Patrick’s Day You can feel that city survive [Verse 3] Old men lean on the bridge rails With stories and plastic cups Kids wave flags in the cold spring wind While the bagpipes fire us up The river rolls past Wacker Drive Through the heart of the windy streets Like an emerald thread through the concrete veins Where the past and the present meet [Chorus] Oh the green river runs through Chicago town Past the steel and the old rail line For one bright day the winter fades And the whole world feels just fine Raise a glass to the working souls Who keep this old town alive When the green river runs on Saint Patrick’s Day You can feel that city survive [Bridge] They say rivers remember everything Every dream and every scar From the stockyard smoke to the shining towers From the taverns to the bars And somewhere in that bright green water All our stories drift along Like the ghosts of those who built this town Still humming an old Irish song [Final Chorus] Oh the green river runs through Chicago town Like a banner in the springtime air And the whole damn city comes alive When the pipes start playing there So if you’re lost in a long cold winter Hold on just a little while When the green river runs on Saint Patrick’s Day Even strangers start to smile
