The River

Tom: Am

   Am                   C             G                 F
I come from down in the valley, where mister when you're young
     Am               C   F              C
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
       F                                C            G     Am
Me and Mary we met in high school, when she was just seventeen
      Dm                             C                     F
We'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green
         Am           F         G                   C
We'd go down to the river, And into the river we'd dive
    Am          F         G     A
Oh down to the river we'd ride
      Am           C           G                     F
Then I got Mary pregnant, And man that was all she wrote
        Am               C                    F                  C
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
     F                                   C        G         Am   
We went down to the courthouse, And the judge put it all to rest
      Dm                                               C                 F
No wedding day smiles no walk down in the aisle, No flowers no wedding dress
                    Am         F           G                   C
That night we went down to the river, And into the river we'd dive
   Am            F           G    F
On down to the river we did ride
  Am                    C                   G           F
I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
      Am                          C         F             C
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
     F  
Now all them things that seemed so important
              C                  G        Am      
Well mister they vanished right into the air
            Dm                              C                   F
Now I just act like I don't remember, Mary acts like she don't care
        Am                      C
But I remember us riding in my brother's car
          G                      F
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
   Am                      C
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
             F                             C
And pull her close just to feel each other breath she'd take
          F                                    C               Am
Now those memories come back to haunt me, They haunt me like a curse
     Dm                                    C
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, Or is it something worse that sends me
Am            F            G                 C
Down to the river though I know the river is dry,
              Am          F     G
That sends me down to the river tonight
Am           F         G       C      Am        F         G
Down to the river, My baby and I, Oh down the river we'd ride
   Am    F
oh oh oh oh oh oh (The exact amount of oohing depends on version)