2031 – Bruce Springsteen – The river (1980)

 

Escrita por Bruce Springsteen, foi gravada em agosto de 1979, no Power Station Studios, em New York City e lançada no disco de mesmo nome, The River, o quinto de Bruce, em 17 de outubro de 1980. Sairia também em compacto fora dos Estados Unidos, em abril de 1981, com Independence day como Lado B. Foi produzida por Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau e Steven Van Zandt. Chegou ao número 24 na Irlanda, número 25 na Holanda e foi Top 10 na Suécia e Noruega. Fala da história da sua irmã e seu cunhado. A imagem do refrão foi inspirada em Long gone lonesome blues, de Hank Williams. Bruce cantou, tocou gaita e tocou guitarra. Roy Bittan tocou piano. Clarence Clemons tocou pandeiro. Danny Federici tocou orgão. Garry Tallent tocou baixo. Steven Van Zandt tocou guitarra e fez harmonias vocais. Max Weinberg tocou bateria.

A letra:

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 drive out of this 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
Yeah, yeah

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-ide

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

A versão de Bruce Springsteen:

A versão de Lex Henrikson:

A versão do Passenger: