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 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
  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