**Genre:** Folk-Pop / Singer-Songwriter
**Tempo:** 112 BPM
- **Verse melody**: Stepwise motion building tension, sits in comfortable mid-range
- **Chorus hook**: Distinctive leap of a fifth on "Oh-oh" creates instant recognition
- **The "da-da-da" section**: Designed for audience participation, pure melody
- **Whistled outro**: 16 bars of the hook, purely melodic, extremely hummable
- Acoustic guitar, rhythmic strumming
- Light tambourine
- Bass providing root movement
- Whistling featured prominently
- Handclaps on chorus
- Production bright and open
- Mix emphasizes vocal melody above all
**Key:** G Major
**Vocals:** Female
**Melodic Hook:** Rising pentatonic phrase that lifts unexpectedly on "river," creating instant memorability
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Lyrics
**Verse 1:**
I threw a penny for the river
Asked it where you'd gone
The water took my copper wish
And carried it along
Past the bridges and the barges
Past the places that we knew
A penny for the river
A penny for the truth
**Chorus:**
Oh-oh, penny for the river
Oh-oh, tell me where you are
Oh-oh, penny for the river
Did you drift too far?
(Hum: da-da-da-da-daaa, da-da-da-da-daaa)
**Verse 2:**
The current keeps its secrets
In the silt along the bend
I've been asking the same question
Since I can't remember when
Maybe pennies don't have answers
Maybe rivers never say
But I'll keep on tossing copper
Every single day
**Chorus:**
Oh-oh, penny for the river
Oh-oh, tell me where you are
Oh-oh, penny for the river
Did you drift too far?
(Hum: da-da-da-da-daaa, da-da-da-da-daaa)
**Bridge:**
Some people pray to heaven
Some people wish on stars
I put my faith in the water
And the way it heals our scars
(Melodic hook repeats underneath)
**Final Chorus:**
Oh-oh, penny for the river
Oh-oh, I know where you are
Oh-oh, penny for the river
You're not that far
(Whistled melody outro)
