"Moody River" is a song written by and originally performed by country rockabilly singer Chase Webster (real name Gary Daniel Bruce, not to be confused with Gary Bruce, the drummer of The Knack).

Pat Boone recorded and released his own version in May 1961, where it reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following month.

The 'story-song' tells the tale of a man who plans to meet his love on the riverbank, by an old oak tree, but finds her glove and a note for him, indicating she has committed suicide via drowning, "river more deadly, than the vainest knife".

The note explains that she had cheated on him and cannot lie about it, "No longer can I live with this hurt and this sin.

Rather than find a different mic or a filter, Chase changed "sharpest" to "vainest" on the spot, with no thought given to the meaning.