Let's take a trip up to Great Falls
Just short of the bridge, right below Town Hall
To the viewing room on the waterside
To watch all the fish swim by
The fish swim the ladder 'round the dam today
The fish swim the ladder up river to make
The next generation of fish to take
Their place on the ladder some day
In Holyoke, the fish get an easy lift
In a elevator, that's so nift-
-y but the Great Falls ladder is onerous
For the fish anadromous
The fish swim the ladder ...
They're swimmin' on their way to glory
Watch them swim on by
They're swimmin' on their way to glory up into the
Big river in the sky
It was built for the salmon, but they're all gone
Now it's used by the shad, who carry on
And the lampreys, too, who need no urgin'
Maybe someday we'll see a sturgeon
The fish swim the ladder ...
I look through the window and I watch the fish
Come back home from sea
I look through the window and I wonder if
The fish are also looking at me?!
The fish swim the ladder ...
They're swimmin' on their way to glory ...
Let's take a trip up to Great Falls
Just short of the bridge, right below Town Hall
To the viewing room on the waterside
To watch all the fish swim by
recording: Sheldon Rosevear singing the original song [YouTube]