When first I took the ring off
I was surprised to see
Another ring just underneath
As white as snow can be
Through rich and poor, sickness and health
Until the day we die
Oh, the day I took the ring off
I lay right down and cried

Oh mother if you're listening
Please say a prayer for me
I love a lovely lady
From the green hills of tennessee
I know jesus loves a sinner
He must love me most of all
Tell brenda I am sorry
But there's no love for me in arkansas
No love in arkansas

That mississippi river
It's muddy and it's wide
And you can't see what you're leaving
‘til you look back from the other side
And there I saw the years I'd spent
And all the years I'd left to go
I took that ring from my finger
And through it in the muddy mississippi river down below

Oh mother if you're listening
Please say a prayer for me
I love a lovely lady
From the green hills of tennessee
I know jesus loves a sinner
He must love me most of all
Tell brenda I am sorry
But there's no love for me in arkansas