The River

I come from down in the valley,

where mister when you’re young

They bring you up to do

like your daddy done

Me and Mary we met in high school,

when she was just seven     teen

We’d ride out of that valley

down to where the fields were green

We’d go down to the river,

and into the river we’d dive

Oh down to the river we’d ride

Then I got Mary pregnant,

and man that was all she wrote

And for my nineteenth birthday

I got a union card and a wedding coat

We went down to the courthouse,

and the judge put it all to rest

No wedding day smiles

no flowers no wedding dress

That night we went down to the river,

and into the river we’d dive

Oh down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction

for the Johnstown Company

But lately there ain’t been much work

on account of the economy

Now all them things that seemed so important

Well mister they vanished right into the air

Now I just act like I don’t remember,

Mary acts like she don’t care

But I remember us riding in my brother’s car

Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir

At night on them banks I’d lie awake

And pull her close just to feel each breath she’d take

Now those memories come back to haunt me,

They haunt me like a curse

Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true,

Or is it something worse

That sends me down to the river

though I know the river is dry,

That sends me down to the river tonight

Down to the river, My baby and I,

Oh down the river we’d ride

oh    oh   oh   oh.  ….   …  …