Songs About the Red River

50 songs reference the Red River · 1993 miles · Rivers & Waterways.

The Red River runs along the Texas and Oklahoma line and on into Louisiana, and 'Red River Valley' made it one of the most-sung rivers in the American songbook long before the modern era. In country and folk it stands in for the dividing line between home and everywhere else.

Here are the songs that name the Red River and the places they tie it to.

The river as RoadyGoat maps it; pins mark songs placed along it.

The Songs

Red River
Jess Williamson · TX
“Red River runs rusty”
65%
Ain't No Love in Oklahoma
Luke Combs · OK
“I got saved in the same Red River”
40%
Nothin But Texas
Wade Bowen · TX
“Runnin' right straight to the river”
25%
Tornado Time in Texas
Guy Clark · TX
“Suck red river just as dry as a bone”
25%
Red River
Guy Clark · TX
“The prairie dog town fork of the Red River flows”
25%
Idabel Blues
Stoney LaRue · TX
“Fore the Red River is my grave”
25%
Red River
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers · TX,OK,AR,LA
“So meet me tonight by the Red River”
25%
Texas River Song
Lyle Lovett · TX
“Red River runs rusty”
25%
Baton Rouge
Guy Clark · LA
“I'm gonna follow old Red River down”
25%
Oklahoma Gypsy Shuffler
Adam Carroll · TX,OK
“Livin' that low down ol' Red River way”
24%
River Red
Cole Phillips · OK
“Just south of Atoka, that red river runs”
24%
Never Been to Texas
Johnny Lee · TX
“I wish all those non-believers would cross that old red river”
23%
Bob Wills Is Still The King
Asleep at the Wheel · TX
“But when you cross that ol' Red River hoss that just don't mean a thing”
23%
Texas Longhorn (SEC version)
Django Walker · TX
“I've witnessed the battle for that old Red River”
23%
Red River
Alabama · LA
“Take me back down where the Red River rolls”
23%
Texas Longhorn
Django Walker · TX
“I've witnessed the battle for that old Red River”
22%
Red River Valley
Michael Martin Murphey
“Just remember the Red River Valley”
22%
Texas Hold ’Em
Grace Tyler · TX
“Red River tears are flowing”
22%
Red River Blue
Blake Shelton · ['OK', 'TX']
“On the Oklahoma shore of that old red river”
22%
Matt & Audie
Zach Bryan · OK
“They might steer south, where the river's red”
22%
Texas Bound Train
Cory Morrow · TX
“I wanna see where that Red River Flows”
22%
Bob Wills is Still the King
Waylon Jennings
“But when you cross that old Red River hoss”
22%
On The Red River
Turnpike Troubadours · TX
“Back on the red river”
21%
She Sang the Red River Valley
Reckless Kelly · TX
“She sang the Red River Valley”
21%
Red River Valley’s Run Dry
Kayla Ray
“And the Red River valleys run dry”
21%
Oklahoma Swing
Vince Gill · OK
“right side of Red River”
21%
Texas Forever
Kevin Fowler · TX
“and Red Rivers run through our blood”
21%
Miles And Miles Of Texas
Asleep at the Wheel · TX
“Crossed that ol red river”
20%
Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma
Luke Combs · OK
“I got saved in the same Red River”
20%
Red River Blues
Henry Thomas · TX,OK,AR,LA
“Which way do the red river run?”
20%
Please Don’t Play Red River Valley
Johnny Cash
“Of Red River Valley Oh My Darling Clementine or Salty Dog”
20%
Tex-Mex
John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band · TX
“Prettiest bride from the Red River to the Rio Grande”
20%
Girls From Texas
Pat Green · TX
“Once you cross that red river hoss”
19%
Desperados Waiting for a Train
Tennessee Jet · TX
“And I played the Red River Valley”
19%
In Oklahoma
Cross Canadian Ragweed · OK
“He washed the Red out of the land in Oklahoma”
19%
Oklahoma Borderline
Vince Gill · OK
“When I cross Red River, boys”
19%
Bury My Bones
Whiskey Myers · TX
“Cross the Red River where it opens wide”
19%
Red River Valley
The Oak Ridge Boys
“But remember the red river valley”
19%
Incommunicado
Jimmy Buffett
“I think of "Red River"”
18%
Choctaw Bingo
James McMurtry · TX
“Red River Rehab”
13%
Where Rivers Are Red and Cowboys Are Blue
Triston Marez · TX
“Where rivers are red and cowboys are blue”
12%
Boogie Back To Texas
Asleep at the Wheel · TX
“Well, state line slammin' me”
8%
Keepin’ it ’Tween the Lines
Paul Eason · TX
“From the Red to the Rio Grande”
7%
Texas, Texas, Texas
Melissa Carper · TX
“Got one more day of travelin', I'm crossin that line”
5%
Crooked Teeth
Zach Bryan · TX
“Word got around that he climbed out of that muddy red river floor”
4%
Girls From Texas
Jon Randall
“Once you cross that red river you’ll stay there forever”
4%
I Like Texas
Pat Green · TX
“From way up where the Red River flows”
3%
Tulsa
49 Winchester
“When I crossed that Oklahoma line”
3%
Public Domain
Jerry Jeff Walker
“I sang in the Red River Valley”
2%
If They Come Lookin’
Zach Bryan · TX
“We'll head down the Red River”
2%

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