The River

On a Friday night where I grew up
There ain't a whole lot you can do
The same ole' faces the same ole' places
Ain't nothin' ever newAfter the football game we'd hang around
The high school parking lot
Then we'd pile into a couple of cars
And head off to our favorite spotDown to the river
We went to the riverMy sophomore year was a carbon copy
Of the ones that came before
'Til a night in late November
That shook us all down to the coreWe'd won the game by twenty points
Couldn't wait to celebrate
But our lead car was goin' way too fast
They never even hit the breaksThey went into the river
Deep in the riverWe buried Laurie Mabrey
In the clothes that she'd been wearin'
Her cheerleader outfit never looked
So out of placeThat sweater and that pleated skirt
Of blue and white and crimson
Just didn't belong in that shiny silver caseI moved here to Nashville
On May twelfth of eighty-nine
And I started gettin' letters once a week
From this friend of mineI'd gone to school with Christine Thuro
From kindergarten on
She'd say, "Hang in there 'cause
I just know you're gonna be a star"She and her boyfriend and a couple of kids
I guess she met through him
Set out for the Marais Des Cygne
To try to cool off by takin' a swimThere'd been a lot of rain that summer
And the current was too strong
I heard they did all they could
But Christine she was goneInto the river
She died there in the riverI was baptized in that same water
Gave my soul to Jesus
How can such a peaceful place
Be filled with so much pain'Cause two young mothers lost their daughters
Right there for no reason
I swear I'll never go down there againBack to the river
That mean ole' river
That beautiful river
That damn ole' river
That damn ole' riverThat damn ole' river
That beautiful river