Lyrics
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 seventeen,
we'd drive out of this valley
down to where the fields were green
We'd go down to the river,
and into the river we'd dive,
down to the river we'd ride
Then, I got Mary pregnant,
and, man, that was all she wrote,
and for my 19th 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 walk down the aisle,
no flowers, no wedding dress
That night we went down to the river,
and into the river we'd dive,
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'd know the river is dry,
that sends me down to the river tonight,
down to the river,
my baby and I,
down to the river we ride