The River

I come from down in the valley where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do just like your daddy done
Me and Mary, we met in high school when she was just seventeen
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 walk down the aisle, 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 and into the river we'd dive
Oh, down to the river we'd ride
Down to the river, though I know the river is dry
Oh, down to the river...