This is the way it is played on «The River» album. During the verses you should
pick the chords with basic pattern of bass-bass-1-3-2-1. In the chorus and
bridge, you should be strumming with a down-down-up-up-down-up pattern.
INTRO
Em G D Cadd9
Em G C….
VERSE 1
Em G D Cadd9
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 G G/F# Em
Me and Mary we met in high school, when she was just seventeen
Am G C
We’d ride out of that 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 Cadd9
Oh down to the river we’d ride
VERSE 2
Em G D Cadd9
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 G/F# Em
We went down to the courthouse, And the judge put it all to rest
Am G C
No wedding day smiles no walk down in the aisle, No flowers no wedding dress
CHORUS
Em C D G
That night we went down to the river, And into the river we’d dive
Em C D Cadd9
On down to the river we did ride
HARMONICA SOLO (repeat verse structure)
VERSE 3
Em G D Cadd9
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 them things that seemed so important
G G/F# Em
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Am G C
Now I just act like I don’t remember, Mary acts like she don’t care
BRIDGE
Em G
But I remember us riding in my brother’s car
D C
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
Em G
At night on them banks I’d lie awake
C G
And pull her close just to feel each breath she’d take
C G G/F# Em
Now those memories come back to haunt me, They haunt me like a curse
Am D G
Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, Or is it something worse that sends me
CHORUS
Em F G C
Down to the river though I know the river is dry,
Em F G
That sends me down to the river tonight
Em C D G Em C D Cadd9
Down to the river, My baby and I, Oh down the river we’d ride
Em C D G Em C D Cadd9
oh oh oh oh oh oh
Chords
EADGBE
Em 022000
G 320003
D XX0323
Cadd9 X32030
G/F# 220003
Am X02210