[1:04]How you doing out there tonight?
[1:09]That's good. That's good.
[1:17]This is uh, when I was growing up, me and my dad used to go out at all the time. over almost anything. But uh, I used to have really long hair, way down past my shoulders. I was 17 or 18. Oh man, he used to hate it. And we got to where we fight so much that I'd I'd spend a lot of time out of the house. And in the summertime it wasn't so bad, because it was warm and your friends were out. But in the winter, I remember standing downtown and it would get so cold. And when the wind would blow, I I had this phone booth that I used to stand in. And I used to call my girl like for hours at a time, just talking to her all night long.
[2:33]And finally I 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 tucked 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'd always ask me was, what did I think I was doing with myself? And the worst part about it was I could never explain it to him. I remember I got in a motorcycle accident once, and I was laid up in bed and he had a barber come in and and cut my hair. And man, I can remember telling him that I hated him and that I would never, ever forget it. And he used to tell me, man, I can't wait till the army gets you. When the army gets you, they're going to make a man out of you. They're going to cut all that hair off and they'll make a man out of you. And this was in I guess, '68 and there was a lot of guys from the neighborhood going to Vietnam. I remember the drummer in my first band coming over my house with his marine uniform on, saying that he was going and that he didn't know where it was. And a lot of guys went and a lot of guys didn't come back. And a lot that came back weren't the same anymore. I remember the day I got my draft notice.
[4:29]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. And I came home.
[4:54]Nothing 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 sitting there. My dad said, "Where you been?" I said, uh, I went to take my physical. This is what happened. I said, "They didn't take me." And he said, "That's good."
[5:49]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.
[6:14]When she was just 17. We'd ride out of that valley, down to where the fields were green. We go down to River, into the river we die. Oh, down to River, we ride. And I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote.
[6:53]But for my 19th birthday I got a union card and I went in coal. We went down to the courthouse. The judge put it all to rest. No wedding smiles, no walk down the aisle, no flowers, no wedding dress. That night we went down to River, into the river we die. Oh, down to River, we ride.
[8:08]I got a job working construction with the Johnson's Down Company. But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy. Now all them things that seemed so important, mysteriously they just vanish right into the air. I just act like I don't remember and Mary acts like she don't care. But I remember her bathing in my brother's car. Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir. That night all those bags I always, and broke close just to feel every breath she takes. Now those memories come back to haunt me. They won't leave me alone. It's a dream of life. If it don't come true, is there something worse that sends me down to River. Oh, I know the river is dry. It sends me down to the river, to my baby and I.
