The River lyrics

Last night I was out driving
Coming home at the end of the working day
I was riding alone through the drizzling rain
On a deserted stretch of a county two-lane
When I came upon a wreck on the highway

There was blood and glass all over
And there was nobody there but me
As the rain tumbled down hard and cold
I seen a young man lying by the side of the road
He cried Mister, won't you help me please

When I lost you honey sometimes I think I lost my guts too
And I wish God would send me a word
send me something I'm afraid to lose
Lying in the heat of the night like prisoners all our lives
I get shivers down my spine and all I wanna do is hold you tight

(Chorus)
I swear I'll drive all night just to buy you some shoes
And to taste your tender charms

Do you still say your prayers little darlin'
do you go to bed at night
Prayin' that tomorrow, everything will be alright
But tommorow's fall in number
in number one by one
You wake up and you're dying
you don't even know what from

Well they shot you point blank
you been shot in the back
Baby point blank you been fooled this time
little girl that's a fact
Right between the eyes, baby, point blank

I got a 007 watch and it's a one and only
It's got a I-Spy beeper that tells me when you're lonely
I got a Batmobile so I can reach ya' in a fast shake
When your world's in crisis of an impendin' heartbreak

Now don't you call James Bond or Secret Agent Man
Cause they can't do it, like I can
I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker - every day
I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker

Well Papa go to bed now it's getting late
Nothing we can say is gonna change anything now
I'll be leaving in the morning from St. Mary's Gate
We wouldn't change this thing even if we could somehow
`Cause the darkness of this house has got the best of us
There's a darkness in this town that's got us too
But they can't touch me now and you can't touch me now

I met a little girl and I settled down
In a little house out on the edge of town
We got married, and swore we'd never part
Then little by little we drifted from each other's heart
At first I thought it was just restlessness
That would fade as time went by and our love grew deep
In the end it was something more I guess
That tore us apart and made us weep

And I'm driving a stolen car

Put on your best dress baby
And darlin', fix your hair up right
Cause there's a party, honey
Way down beneath the neon lights
All day you've been working that hard line
Now tonight you're gonna have a good time

I work five days a week girl
Loading crates down on the dock
I take my hard earned money
And meet my girl down on the block
And Monday when the foreman calls time

You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take
You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks
Out on to an open road you ride until the day
You learn to sleep at night with the price you pay

Now with their hands held high, they reached out for the open skies
And in one last breath they built the roads they'd ride to their death
Driving on through the night, unable to break away

Yesterday I went shopping buddy down to the mall
Looking for something pretty I could hang on my wall
I knocked over a lamp before it hit the floor I caught it
A salesman turned around said Boy you break that thing you bought it

You can look but you better not touch boy
You can look but you better not touch
Mess around and you'll end up in dutch boy

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

Well, there she sits buddy justa gleaming in the sun
There to greet a working man when his day is done
I'm gonna pack my pa and I'm gonna pack my aunt
I'm gonna take them down to the Cadillac Ranch

Eldorado fins, whitewalls and skirts
Rides just like a little bit of heaven here on earth
Well buddy when I die throw my body in the back
And drive me to the junkyard in my Cadillac

I went out walking the other day
Seen a little girl crying along the way
She'd been hurt so bad said she'd never love again
Someday your crying girl will end
And you'll find once again

(Chorus)
Two hearts are better than one
Two hearts girl get the job done
Two hearts are better than one

Once I spent my time playing tough guy scenes
But I was living in a world of childish dreams

Well now you say you've found another man who does things to you that I can't
And that no matter what I do it's all over now
between me and you girl
But I can't believe what you say
No I can't believe what you say
'cause baby

(Chorus)
I don't wanna fade away
Oh I don't wanna fade away
Tell me what can I do what can I say
Cause darlin' I don't wanna fade away

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that don't know where it's flowing
I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

CHORUS:
Everybody's got a hungry heart
Everybody's got a hungry heart
Lay down your money and you play your part
Everybody's got a hungry heart

I met her in a Kingstown bar
We fell in love I knew it had to end

Hey, little dolly with the blue jeans on
I wanna ramrod with you honey, till half-past dawn
Let your hair down sugar and pick up this beat
Come on and meet me tonight down on Bluebird Street
I've been working all week, I'm up to my neck in hock
Come Saturday night I let my ramrod rock

She's a hot stepping hemi with a four on the floor
She's a roadrunner engine in a '32 Ford

My feets were flyin' down the street just the other night
When a Hong Kong special pulled up at the light
What was inside, man, was just c'est magnifique
I wanted to hold the bumper and let her drag me down the street

(Chorus)
Ooh, ooh, I gotta crush on you
Ooh, ooh, I gotta crush on you
Ooh, ooh, I gotta crush on you tonight

Sometimes I spot a little stranger standing 'cross the room

I see you walking, baby, down the street
Pushing that baby carriage at your feet
I see the lonely ribbon in your hair
Tell me I am the man for whom you put it there

You never smile girl, you never speak
You just walk on by, darlin' week after week
Raising two kids alone in this mixed up world
Must be a lonely life for a working girl

(Chorus)
Little girl, I wanna marry you

You been hurt and you're all cried out you say
You walk down the street pushin' people outta your way
You packed your bags and all alone you wanna ride,
You don't want nothin', don't need no one by your side
You're walkin' tough baby, but you're walkin' blind
to the ties that bind

(Chorus)
The ties that bind
Now you can't break the ties that bind

Cheap romance, it's all just a crutch

Driving home she grabs something to eat
Turns a corner and drives down her street
Into a row of houses she just melts away
Like the scenery in another man's play
Into a house where the blinds are closed
To keep from seeing things she don't wanna know
She pulls the blinds and looks out on the street
The cool of the night takes the edge off the heat

In the Jackson Cage

Your Mamma's yappin' in the back seat
Tell her to push over and move them big feet
Every Monday morning I gotta drive her down to the unemployment agency
Well this morning I ain't fighting tell her I give up
Tell her she wins if she'll just shut up
But it's the last time that she's gonna be ridin' with me

(Chorus)
You can tell her there's a hot sun beatin' on the black top