Story Behind The Song
Growing up in Logansport, Indiana, what was there to do? Well, you hung out at the park right by the Wabash river. I wanted to pay homage to that little town and that homage came out in the form of this song. It struck a chord (so to speak) with one of my childhood friends who was the daughter of the Methodist minister. We were the offspring of the Presbyterian minister (not that there was any rivalry, you understand). As the object of one of my brothers' affections, she recognized herself in the line "Son of a Presbyterian and the daughter of a Methodist." Our neighbor was a mean man by the name of McCorkle who never returned any of the baseballs that happen to find their way from our yard to his. He's in the song too. Those were the days when kids could leave in the morning with a sack lunch and return before dark with little to no parental supervision. We felt safe. My brother, Scott, decided to include this in our musical "Old Folks at Home" and he perfectly fit it into the storyline.
Song Description
Reminiscing about childhood days at the park
| Song Length |
3:50 |
Genre |
Pop - Rock, Blues - Rock |
| Tempo |
Medium Fast (131 - 150) |
Lead Vocal |
Female Vocal |
| Mood |
Endearing, Sociable |
Subject |
History, Past, Happiness |
| Language |
English |
| |
Lyrics
Riverside Park
V1: Growing up in a small town
Where the Wabash meets the Eel
Being young meant having fun
Even if we had to beg, borrow, and steal it
The only rule we followed was to be home before dark
Spending all our days down by Riverside Park
V2: We didn't care about money
Or what anybody thought
For us, it was a pretty good day
So long as we never got caught
Letting the air out of Billy's tires
Or making old man McKorkle's dog bark
Spending all our days down by Riverside Park
Bridge: Riverside Park - oh, the place was humming
We'd get a head start and meet at the crack of dawn
We could be found riding the merry-go-round
I'm happy to say it's still there today
V3: The son of a Presbyterian
And the daughter of a Methodist
Throw in a couple of Catholics
And a sprinkling of southern Baptists
We kept our secrets to ourselves
And our parents in the dark
Spending all our days down at Riverside Park
Bridge:
V4: As we got a little older
The gang began to change
The stakes got a little bit higher
But the games remained the same
Red Rover, Red Rover
Baby, come on over
Meet me after dark down by Riverside Park