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