Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band The River Lyrics

"How you doin' out there tonight
[crowd cheers]

That's good
That's good
This is uh,
When I was growin' up
Me and my dad used to go at it all the time
Over almost anything
But uh
I used to have really long hair
Right down past my shoulders
[someone laughs]

I was 17 or 18
Oh man, he used to hate it
And we got to where we'd fight so much
That I, that I'd spend a lot of time out of the house
And in the summer time it wasn't so bad
Because it was warm and
Your friends were out
But in the winter
I remember standin' downtown it would get so cold
And when the wind would blow I had this phone booth I would stand in
And I used to call my girl for hours at a time
Just talkin' to her all night long
[crowd cheers]

And finally I'd get my nerve up to go home
And I'd stand there in the driveway
And he'd be waiting for me in the kitchen
And I'd tuck my hair down in my collar
And I'd walk in
And he'd call me back to sit down with him
And the first thing he would always ask me is
What did I think I was doing with myself
And the worst part about it was
That I could never explain it to him

I remember I got into a motorcycle accident once
I was laid up in bed
And he had a barber come in and cut my hair
And man
I can remember tellin' him that I hated him
And that I would never ever forget it
And he used to tell me
'Man I can't wait 'til the Army gets you.'
'When the Army gets you they're gonna make a man out of you.'
'They're gonna cut all that hair off and they'll make a man out of you.'

And this was in, I guess, '68
And there were a lot of guys
From the neighborhood going to Vietnam
I remember the drummer from my first band
Comin' over my house with his Marine uniform on
Sayin' that he was going and that he didn't know where it was
And a lotta guys went and a lotta guys didn't come back
And a lot that came back weren't the same anymore
And I remember the day I got my draft notice
I hid it from my folks
And three days before my physical
Me and my friends went out and we stayed up all night
And we got on the bus to go that morning
Man, we were all so scared

And I went and I failed (heh)
I came home (heh)
[crowd cheers]
(heh) It's nothin' to applaud about
But I remember coming home after I'd been gone for three days
And walking in the kitchen and my mother and father were sittin' there
My dad said, 'Where ya been!'
I said, 'Uh, I went to take my physical.'
He said, 'What happened?'
I said, 'They didn't take me.'
And he said, 'That's good.'"
[crowd cheers]

[guitar stops then harmonica blares the intro]

I come from down in the valley
Where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do
Just 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
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 fer my nineteenth 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 weddin' day smiles, no walk down the aisle
No flowers, no wedding dress

That night we went down to the river
Into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride

I got a job working construction
With 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 just vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember,
And 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 those banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel every 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
Sends me down to the river tonight
Oh down to the river,
My baby and I
Oh down to the river we'd ride

Ooohhh
Ooohhh
Ooohh