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   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'd 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 tanned 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 to the river we ride