[Verse 1]
The screen door creaks, the wind slips through,
Evenin' shadows paint the walls in blue.
A photograph fades on the mantle’s edge,
Time won't stop, but it leaves its pledge.

[Chorus]
The river don't run backward, no matter how you try,
The sun keeps settin' farther down the sky.
Memories are whispers, carried by the breeze,
The river don't run backward, it only flows to seas.

[Verse 2]
The oak out front still stands its ground,
Roots dug deep in this hollowed-out town.
But the swing we hung, it don't hold weight,
Just like the years, it’s begun to fade.

[Prechorus]
I hear the echoes, soft and low,
The places we swore we'd never let go.

[Chorus]
The river don't run backward, no matter how you try,
The sun keeps settin' farther down the sky.
Memories are whispers, carried by the breeze,
The river don't run backward, it only flows to seas.

[Bridge]
We built a raft of dreams, thought it’d float forever,
But the current tore it loose, no ties to tether.
I keep reachin' back, but it slips like sand,
The past ain't a place where you can stand.