Missouri River Bridge

Between the skyscraper on the prairie
And where the west begins
Ironworkers worked on
The Missouri river bridge
He said the profits of the trade
Were well worth the risk
We raised five babes
You were our sixth

And each morning I'd watch him go
My nose against our
Foggy North Dakota ranch home window

Your daddy was a builder of many things
I only wish
He would have built
Himself some wings

I took a seamstress job in Bismarck
After Papa took the fall
Ann looked after you
Joe became the bearing wall
Had no means for a burial
We were barely keeping fed
But we can lay these flowers
On the Missouri riverbed

And each morning wake up brave
If your back's against a wall
That will not budge
Then leave your love engraved

Your daddy was a builder of many things
I only wish
He would have built himself some wings

When you're forty years old
You'll receive a telephone call
This is when you'll find
Out the story isn't true at all
They'll say we regret to inform you
That your father has just died
You'll tell them you already
Got that news as a little child

But I could not bare to say
The only bridge
Your daddy built
Was the one he used to walk away

Your daddy was a builder of many things
I only wish
He would have built
Himself some wings

I only wish
He could have built himself
Some wings