The River Chords

KeyAm CapoNone TuningStandard Difficulty Plays624

The River by Bruce Springsteen is a moderately challenging guitar song played in the key of Am. It uses the chords Am, C, G, F, Dm and A. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.

Transpose
Am
Text
16
Speed
  			
   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)
    	

Chord diagrams

Guitar tuner

--
Start the tuner and play a string

Reference tones

Standard tuning, lowest to highest. Click a string to play it; the string the mic hears is highlighted.

Click Start tuner and allow microphone access. The needle centers and turns green when a string is in tune (within 5 cents).
No microphone? You can still tap any string above to hear its exact reference pitch.

Metronome

100 BPM Andante