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,

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 nineteen 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 

o down to the river

 and into the river we dived 



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 those things that seemed so important

Well mister  they vanished right in the air

And I 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 by 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, well 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 rive 

o i know the river is dry 

that sends me down the river tonight