Riverside Slide

C.W. McCall

One coal-black night of a Colorado winter

It snowed on Red Mountain Pass

We warned ev'rybody that the Slide was runnin'

An' 5-5-Oh was a mess

But outta the plowshed, south a' town

Come a blade with a flashin' blue light

We told that boy: "Whatever you do,

Beware of the Riverslide Slide."



Now that plow-jockey knew he had a job to do

Been dodgin' them slides for years

But we all knew, deep down inside,

He was livin' with a thing called fear

'Cause you don't mess around with an avalanche, son

A lotta men tried, and died

Yeah, you get them plows past Bear Creek Falls,

You lookin' at the Riverside Slide



Now all a' us folks around Ouray County

Seen a lotta them cold, black nights

When the only thing movin' is a big ol' plow

Flashin' them weird blue lights

You drive them snowplows around these parts

You gotta have a real thick hide

'Cause ya never quite know what time a' the night

You gonna die in the Riverside Slide



Well, it snowed six feet on the mountain that night

An' we knew what was comin' on down

An' so did the boy an' his flashin' blue light

When he rolled that blade outta town

Well, he took that plow up 5-5-Oh

An' he felt it lean to one side

An' before he knew it, he was buried alive

At the bottom of the Riverside Slide



Yeah, all a' us folks around Ouray County

Seen a lotta them cold, black nights

When the only thing movin' is a big ol' plow

Flashin' them weird blue lights

We found the boy in the early spring

Still settin', the plow on its side

Yeah, ya never quite know what time a' the night

You gonna die in the Riverside Slide