I come from down in the valley
Where mister when you were young
They bring you up to do like
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
oh, down to the river we ride.
Oh, down to the river we ride
Then I got married pregnant,
and man that was off she wrote
And for my 19th birthday,
I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
and Judge put it all to rest
No flowers, no wedding dress
That night we went down to the river
Oh, down to the river we rise
Oh, down to the river we rise
I've got a job working construction
for the Johnstone Company
But lately there ain't been much work
on account of the kind I made
have vanished right into the air
Mary acts like she don't care
Mary acts like she don't care
I remember us riding in my brother's car,
At night on the banks I'd lie awake,
just to feel each breath she'd take.
they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true,
or is it something worse?
It sends me down to the river
Though I know the river is dry,
send me down to the river tonight
Down to the river, baby and I
Oh, down to the river we ride
