E C#m E C#m A E B E C#m E C#m A B E [Verse 1] E C#m Nineteen hundred and oh-one E C#m There beneath the August sun A E B A daring survey undertaken on the fly E C#m Colorado would request E C#m Divert the river water west A B E For the Uncompahgre Valley was too dry [Verse 2] E C#m There’d been one attempt before E C#m And they needed to know more A E B Than what Bryant saw from base camps on the rim E C#m When the challenge whet their thirst E C#m Two men planned to be the first A B E To take the canyon floor route cut from deep within [Chorus] E B A E B There's only one way the water flows E B A E B Through a passage no one knows E C#m Heading down the canyon black E C#m They could never turn their back A B E Staring down the barrel of the Gunnison [Instr] E C#m E C#m A E B E C#m E C#m A B E [Verse 3] E C#m The journey started as they planned E C#m With support from a third man A E B Who hiked the old trail high above the river’s hood E C#m ’Til they came upon a narrow E C#m At the jaws of the Falls of Sorrow A B E With one way out, they took the only way they could [Verse 4] E C#m Diving deep into the churn E C#m Maybe never to return A E B The pair could only hope to breathe the air again E C#m The angry river turned and tossed E C#m And the two might have been lost A B E Deep below the surface of the Gunnison [Chorus] E B A E B There's only one way the water flows E B A E B Through a passage no one knows E C#m Heading down the canyon black E C#m They could never turn their back A B E Staring down the barrel of the Gunnison C#m Gunnison... [Lead Break] C#m F#7 F#m7 C#m F#7 F#m7 G# C#m F#7 F#m7 C#m F#7 F#m7 G# A B E C#m E C#m A B E [Verse 5] E C#m Now the story has been told E C#m And while the river still runs cold A E B The water gets to where it once had never been E C#m As for whether they escaped E C#m They made it out just bruised and scraped A B E The two men never would forget the Gunnison [Chorus] E B A E B There's only one way the water flows E B A E B Through a passage no one knows E C#m Heading down the canyon black E C#m They could never turn their back A B E Staring down the barrel of the Gunnison A B E Staring down the barrel of the Gunnison