is it just a song or...the state of the art?

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