The River chords

Helen Merrill

Key: 

Simplify chords 

  			   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  exact amount of oohing depends on version