Am          C          G           F
I come from down in the valley, where mister when you're young
  Am           C   F          C
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
   F                    C       G    Am
Me and Mary we met in high school, when she was just seventeen
   Dm                      C             F
We'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green
     Am       F       G              C
We'd go down to the river, And into the river we'd dive
  Am       F       G   A
Oh down to the river we'd ride
   Am        C       G             F
Then I got Mary pregnant, And man that was all she wrote
     Am          C              F            C
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
  F                      C    G       Am
We went down to the courthouse, And the judge put it all to rest
   Dm                            C             F
No wedding day smiles no walk down in the aisle, No flowers no wedding dress
            Am      F        G              C
That night we went down to the river, And into the river we'd dive
 Am         F        G   F
On down to the river we did ride
  Am              C             G        F
I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
    Am                   C     F        C
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
  F
Now all them things that seemed so important
        C             G      Am
Well mister they vanished right into the air
       Dm                       C           F
Now I just act like I don't remember, Mary acts like she don't care
      Am              C
But I remember us riding in my brother's car
      G              F
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
  Am              C
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
        F                    C
And pull her close just to feel each other breath she'd take
     F                    C          Am
Now those memories come back to haunt me, They haunt me like a curse
    Dm                          C
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, Or is it something worse that sends me
Am        F         G           C
Down to the river though I know the river is dry
        Am      F   G
That sends me down to the river tonight
Am        F      G     C    Am       F     G
Down to the river, My baby and I, Oh down the river we'd ride
 Am    F
oh oh oh oh oh oh "The exact amount of oohing depends on version"