Never had much to say, he traveled alone with no friends
Like a shadowy ghost at dawn he came and he went
Through the woodland swiftly gliding, to the young maid he came gliding
Where she'd run to meet him, by the garden wall

Oh my sweet Miguel, I will never tell
No one will ever know, what I know too well
And he'd smile and lay his head on her breast and he'd say I have no fear
They're waiting for me to cross the border, to swim the river

'Cause I've done that before
To see my true loves smiling face
A hundred times or more
Oh my sweet Miguel she cried
I'll love you till I die

He was born to the south in Mexico they say
The child of a man who had soon gone away
But his mother loved him dearly and she would take him yearly
To the great Cathedral in St. Augustine

Oh my young Miguel, listen to the bell
Of my poverty you must never tell
And he cried himself to sleep in the night
And he vowed to make things right
So he took the gun down from the wall and he paid a call

He knew she'd understand
A lawman came to capture him
The gun jumped in his hand
Oh Miguel the mother cried
You must run son or you'll die

So the story is told of his true love cross the line
As strong as the oak and as sweet as the vine
And the child she bore him, came on the fateful mornin'
When they sent him to his final rest

Oh my sweet Miguel listen to the bell
No one will ever know, of what I know too well
Then she'd smile and lay the child on her breast
And she'd say I have no fear
I'm waiting for you to cross the border, to swim the river

'Cause you've done that before
To see your true loves smiling face
A hundred times or more
Oh my sweet Miguel she cried
I'll love you till I die