The River

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 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 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
Oh 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
That sends me down to the river tonight
Down to the river
my baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride


This is a more haunting exposition of the slavery to nostalgia that is present in so many lives than the satire of Glory Days. Here the protagonist is trapped in the present by the memories of his youth (things which seemed to important), but ironically it is the very choices of his youth that have reaped his present disappointment. All he has are his dreams which are but empty shells of true fulfillment. The hopelessness is profound (is there a faint allusion to suicidal thoughts? - "Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, Or is it something worse that sends me down to the river"). The apparent nightmare of his current life nearly overwhelms him.
How can this slavery to the past be overcome? Can our dreams of a real fulfillment become true?