The Rio Grande, called the Rio Bravo on the Mexican side, forms roughly 1,250 miles of the border between Texas and Mexico on its way from the Colorado Rockies to the Gulf. It is a border, a crossing, and a symbol all at once, which is why so many songs reach for it.
Below are the tracks that name the Rio Grande, the artists behind them, and where along the river each one lands.
The river as RoadyGoat maps it; pins mark songs placed along it.
The Songs
70%
Cocaine Charlie (feat. The Texas Gentlemen)
Ryan Bingham · TX
“He'd slip across the river / back road along the Rio Grande”
Austin Night
Johnny Dear
Kassi Valazza · TX
25%
25%
25%
25%
25%
24%
24%
24%
24%
24%
24%
24%
23%
23%
23%
23%
23%
23%
23%
23%
22%
Leavin’ Texas
Jerry Jeff Walker · TX
“If I just make it to the border, the borders of the Rio Grande”
22%
22%
22%
22%
22%
22%
What I Like About Texas
Jerry Jeff Walker · TX
“It's everything between the Sabine and the Rio Grande”
22%
21%
21%
21%
21%
21%
21%
21%
Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)
Woody Guthrie · TX
“My father's own father, he waded that river”
20%
20%
20%
20%
20%
20%
Tex-Mex
“Prettiest bride from the Red River to the Rio Grande”
20%
19%
The Yellow Rose Of Texas
Ernest Tubb · TX
“Where the Rio Grande is flowing and the skies are bright”
19%
19%
19%
19%
19%
Keep Texas Beautiful
Jerry Jeff Walker · TX
“But a float trip down the Rio Grande would sure do a lot for me”
19%
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
Grateful Dead · TX
“Across the Rio Grandio, across the lazy river”
7%
7%
7%
7%
7%
Gallo del Cielo
Tom Russell · TX
“Then he crossed the Rio Grande with that rooster nestled deep beneath his arm”
Gallo del Cielo
Joe Ely · TX
“Then he crossed the Rio Grande with that roosted nestled deep within his arm”
6%
5%
Deportee (Plane Crash at Los Gatos)
Woody Guthrie · TX
“My father's own father, he waded that river”
4%
Rio
Kyle Park · TX
“He said he'd named him Rio, got him on the border line
He's bred just like the river”
4%
4%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
2%
1%
1%