The River | Bruce Springsteen

Credit: San Francisco Public Library

I come from down in the valley
where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and Mary we met in high school
when she was just seventeen
We'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green



Credit: San Francisco Public Library

We'd go down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride



Credit: San Francisco Public Library

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 court house
and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle
No flowers no wedding dress



Credit: San Francisco Public Library

That night we went down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we did ride



Credit: San Francisco Public Library

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown company
But lately there ain't 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 don't remember
Mary acts like she don't care



Credit: San Francisco Public Library

But I remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night by the Hibernia Banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take



Credit: San Francisco Public Library

Now those memories come back to haunt me
they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't 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
Down to the river
my baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride



Credit: San Francisco Public Library