is a dream a lie if it doesn't come true

I come from down in the valley, where mister when you're young

they bring you up to do like your daddy done;

me and Mary we met in high school, when she was just seventeen

we'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green

we'd go down to the river and into the river we'd dive

oh down to the river we'd ride

then I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote

and for my nineteen birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat

we went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest

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

that night we went down to the river
and into the river we'd dive
down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown company

but lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
now all them things that seemed so important
well mister they vanished right into the air
now I just act like I don't remember, Mary acts like she don't care
but I remember us riding in my brother's car
her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
at night on them banks I'd lie awake
and pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take. . .


now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse. . .

is a dream a lie if it don't come true - or is it something worse?

that sends me down to the river though I know the river is dry
down to the river, my baby and I

 

oh down to the river we ride