The River - The Clarks

I come from down in the valley

Where, mister, when you’re young

They bring you up to do like your daddy done

Well, Mary, we met in high school

She was just seventeen

We’d drive outta 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

Well, I got Mary pregnant

And, man, that was all she wrote

Before my nineteenth birthday

I got a union card and a wedding coat

We went down to the courthouse

And the judge brought it all to rest

No wedding day smiles

No walk down the aisles

No flowers, no wedding dress

We’d go 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

Lately, there ain’t been much work

On account of the economy

All those things that seemed so important

Well, they just vanish in the air

And I act like I don’t remember

Mary acts like she don’t care

And I remember us riding in my brother’s car

About ten and went around the reservoir

At night on the banks, I’d lie awake

And pull her close to feel each breath she’d take

Those memories come back to haunt me

Well, they haunt me like a curse

Is a dream a lie that don’t come true

Or is it something worse?

And we’d go down to the river

And into the river we’d dive

Oh, down to the river we’d ride

Down to the river, my baby and I

Oh, down to the river, we’d ride