text: I come from down in the valley
  Where, mister, when youre young
  They bring you up to do like your daddy done
  Me and Mary we met in high school
  When she was just seventeen
  Wed ride out of this valley down to where the fields were green
  Wed go down to the river
  And into the river wed dive
  Oh, down to the river wed 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 wed dive
  Oh, down to the river we did ride
  Ah-yah
  I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
  But lately there aint 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 dont remember
  And Mary acts like she dont care
  But I remember us riding in my brothers car
  Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
  At night on them banks Id lie awake
  And pull her close just to feel each breath shed take
  Now those memories come back to haunt me
  They haunt me like a curse
  Is a dream a lie if it dont 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
  Ah-yah-yah
  Down to the river
  My baby and I
  Oh, down to the river we ride
  Ah-yah-ay
  Ooh, ooh
  Ooh, ooh
  Ooh
  Ooh, ooh
  Ooh