Em   G   D   C   Am   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/F#    Em
She was just seventeen
     Am
We'd drive out of this valley
        G                     C
Down to where the fields were green


[Chorus 1]

        Em          C
We'd go down to the river
    D                   G
And into the river we'd dive
D/F#  Em       C          D       C
Oh down to the river we'd ride


[Verse 2]

     Em         G            D                    C
Then I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote
    Em                G                      C                  G
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
   C                                   G            D/F#    Em
We went down to the courthouse 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


[Chorus 2]

        Em          C
We'd go down to the river
    D                   G
And into the river we'd dive
D/F#  Em       C          D       C
Oh down to the river we'd ride


[Guitar Solo]

Em   G   D   C
Em   G   C   G
C        G  D/F#  Em
Am       G   C


[Verse 3]

  Em                        G             D               C
I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
    Em                      G              C                   G 
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
    C 
Now all those things that seemed so important
     G         D/F#            Em
Well they just vanished in the air
      Am                               G                   C
And I act like I don't remember, Mary acts like she don't care
       Em                      G
And I remember us riding in my brother's car
         D                       C
Her body tan and wet down by the reservoir
   Em                      G
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
             C                  G
And pull her close to feel each breath she'd take
      C                                         G        D/F#   Em
Those memories come back to haunt me, well 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


[Chorus 3]

            Em          C
And We'd go down to the river
    D                   G
And into the river we'd dive
D/F#  Em       C          D       G
Oh down to the river we'd ride
Em          C        D        G
Down to the river my baby and I
D/F#  Em       C          D       G
Oh down to the river we'd ride
Em  G   D    C                Em  G  C  G  Em  G  D  C x2 
Yeah Yeah Yeah the river we'd ride