The River

[Intro]
[Em]  [G]  [D]  [C]  [Em]  [G]  [C]

[Verse 1]
[Em]                   [G]
I come from down in the valley,
      [D]                  [C]
where mister when you're young
     [Em]              [G]   [C]               [G]
They bring you up to do, like your daddy done
       [C]
Me and Mary we met in high school,
     [G]            [D]    [Em]
when she was just seventeen
     [Am]                                [G]                     
We'd drive out of this valley, down to where the fields were 
[C]
green

        [Em]          [C]
We'd go down to the river,
    [D]                   [G]
and into the river we'd dive
    [Em]          [C]          [D] [C]
Oh, down to the river we'd ride

[Verse 2]
     [Em]         [G]
Then I got Mary pregnant,
    [D]                    [C]
and man that was all she wrote
    [Em]                [G]                       [C]           
And for my nineteenth birthday, I got a union card, and a 
        [G]
wedding coat
   [C]
We went down to the courthouse,
        [G]            [D]      [Em]
and the judge put it all to rest
   [Am]
No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle,
   [G]                   [C]
no flowers, no wedding dress

                   [Em]          [C]
That night we went down to the river
    [D]                   [G]
and into the river we'd dive
    [Em]          [C]          [D] [C]
Oh, down to the river we'd ride

[Interlude]
Em G D C   Em G C G   C G D Em Am G C

[Verse 3]
  [Em]                   [G]                  [D]              [C]
I got a job working construction, for the Johnstown Company
    [Em]                      [G]               [C]            
But lately there ain't been much work, on account of the 
     [G]
economy
     [C]
Now, all them things that seemed so important,
                  [G]              [D]        [Em]
well, mister they vanished right into the air
           [Am]
Now I just act like I don't remember;
     [G]                   [C]
Mary acts like she don't care

        [Em]                     [G]
But I remember us riding in my brother's car,
         [D]                       [C]
her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
   [Em]                      [G]
At night on them banks I'd lie awake,
             [C]                       [G]
and pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
          [C]                     [Em]
Now those memories come back to haunt me,
     [G]        [D]      [Em]
they haunt me like a curse
     [Am]
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true,
   [G]               [C]
or is it something worse?

              [Em]          [C]
That sends me down to the river,
         [D]                 [G]
though I know the river is dry
              [Em]          [C]       [D]   [C]
That sends me down to the river tonight
[Em]          [C]         [D]        [G]
Down to the river, my baby and I,
    [Em]          [C]        [D]  [C]
oh, down to the river we ride

[Outro]
[Em] [C]   [D]   [G]     [Em]  [C]   [D]   [C]