The River – Bruce Springsteen

Released 1980

INTRO

|| Em          | G          | D          | C G |

| Am          | G          | C          | C      ||

VERSE 1

||       Em                  |         G                   | D                      | C(9)          |

I Come from down in the Valley, Where Mister, when you’re Young

|       Em                  |         G                   | C                  | G                  |

They Bring you up to Do like your Daddy done

|         C                  | C                             | G   / D /         | Em                  |

Me and Mary we met in High school, When she was just seventeen

| Ami                           | G                              | C                   | C                  |

We’d drive out of this valley down to where the fields were green

CHORUS

|| Em                           | C                            | D                  | G                   |

We’d go Down to the River, And into the river we’d dive

| Em                           | C                           | D                  | C(9)                  ||

Oh down to the river we’d ride

VERSE 2

||       Em                  |         G                   | D                      | C(9)          |

Then I got Mary pregnant, And man, that was all she wrote

|       Em                  |         G                   | C                  | G                  |

And for my 19th birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat

|         C                  | C                             | G   / D /         | Em                  |

We went down to the courthouse, And the judge put it all to rest

| Ami                           | Ami                              | G                   | C                  ||

No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle, No flowers, no wedding dress

 

CHORUS

(Harp solo)          || Em          | G          | D              | C(9)          |

| Em          | G          | C             | G            |

| C             | C           | G D          | Em           |

| Am          | Am          | G            | C              ||

 

VERSE 3

||       Em                  |         G                   | D                      | C(9)          |

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                  | C                             | G   / D /         | Em                  |

Now all them things that seemed so important, Well mister they vanished right into the air

| Ami                           | Ami                              | G                   | C                  ||

Now I just act like I don’t remember, Mary acts like she don’t care.

VERSE 4

||       Em                  |         G                   | D                      | C(9)          |

But I remember us riding in my brother’s car, Her body tan & wet down at the reservoir

|       Em                  |         G                   | C                  | G                  |

At night on them banks I’d lie awake, & pull her close just to feel each breath she’d take

|         C                  | C                             | G   / D /         | Em                  |

Now those memories come back to haunt me, They haunt me like a curse

| Ami                           | Ami                              | G                   | C                  ||

Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, Or is it something worse.

 

CHORUS

|| Em                           | C                            | D                  | G                   |

That sends me down to the river

| Em                           | C                           | D                  | C(9)                  ||

Though I know the river is dry

|| Em                           | C                            | D                  | G                   |

That sends me down to the river tonight

| Em                           | C                           | D                  | C(9)                  ||

Down to the river my baby and I.

 

(to fade out)