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 new
 After 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 spot
 Down to the river
 We went to the river
 My 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 core
 We'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 breaks
 They went into the river
 Deep in the river
 We buried Laurie Mabrey
 In the clothes that she'd been wearin'
 Her cheerleader outfit never looked
 So out of place
 That sweater and that pleated skirt
 Of blue and white and crimson
 Just didn't belong in that shiny silver case
 I moved here to Nashville
 On May twelfth of eighty-nine
 And I started gettin' letters once a week
 From this friend of mine
 I'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 swim
 There'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 gone
 Into the river
 She died there in the river
 I 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 again
 Back to the river
 That mean ole' river
 That beautiful river
 That damn ole' river
 That damn ole' river
 That damn ole' river
 That beautiful river