Now I saw the seeping barrels bleeding dry
And I saw the poison pouring as the flow went by
And the Hg, P and nitrates - they soiled you, Big River
And next ten days half a million fish did die

It started all accidentaly - in fire at Sandoz. Basel
And it tore them up the barrels - of pesticides, cyanide
Then the flood turned red and lethal before it reached Strasbourg
The life of river was gone and all fish died

Then the flow went on down to Mannheim, later on (down the river)
A freighter saw it's coming but there is none you can do.
Days went by and poison now flowed down to Bonn, then Cologne
In Duisburg it did mix with stuff of Ruhr.

Now, it did batter down life at Netherlands, roll it on.
Take that poison on down to Rotterdam, Rotterdam.
Go on, you've had enough; carry that stuff down in North Sea -.
It poisoned you, Big River, for years to come.

Now I saw the seeping barrels bleeding dry
And I saw the poison pouring as the flow went by
And the Hg, P and nitrates - they soiled you, Big River
And next ten days half a million fish did die