Sunday, April 27, 2014

The River - with harmonica intro

If you're new to harmonicas the basic, cheap harmonica is all you need for this. A D harmonica and a diatonic one, which most are anyway, as opposed to the chromatic. The diatonic is your typical blues-harp used by Bob Dylan etc. The chromatic has a button on the side that lets you add half-notes to the scale. More for Jazz. Stevie Wonder uses one of these. You'll not be needing that.  This is in The Boss's original key.

I just read a great article about him here.

The way to read this is d = draw in breath, b = blow. 4 means the fourth hole from the left, which is the low notes end. Bend all the 4's. To learn how bend a note, it's just trial and error, but there are videos on youtube for this.



Em         G        D       C    
4d    5b  5d  6d 6b 5d 4d,
Em    G       C
6d 6b 5d 6b 4d


  Em                                 G                      D                             C
I come from down in the valley   Where mister, when you're young
       Em                       G  C                        G
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
  C                                                                   G                D    Em
Me and Mary we met in high school  When she was just seventeen
         Am                                G                                              C
We'd drive out of this valley down to where the fields were green

               Em               C             D                           G
We'd go down to the river And into the river we'd dive
      Em                C             D   C
Oh down to the river we’d ride

       Em                G                     D                               C
Then I got Mary pregnant  And man, that was all she wrote
       Em                G                      C                                       G
And for my 19th birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
       C                                                            G              D       Em
We went down to the courthouse  And the judge put it all to rest
    Am
No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle
     G                                 C
No flowers, no wedding dress

                                     Em          C
That night we went down to the river
        D                           G
And into the river we'd dive
       Em              C                   D   C
Oh down to the river we did ride

{Harmonica}
Em         G        D       C  
4d    5b  5d  6d 6b 5d 4d,
Em    G       C
6d 6b 5d 6b 4d   (Just the same as intro, but not 100% accurate, if I work it out, I'll put it here)

          Em                     G                        D               C
I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
      Em                              G                      C                    G
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
    C
Now all them things that seemed so important
              G                 D            Em
Well mister they vanished right into the air
           Am                                                     G                           C
Now I just act like I don't remember   Mary acts like she don't care

         Em                                      G                           D
But I remember us riding in my brother's car   Her body tan and wet down at
     C               Em                                       G
the reservoir    At night on them banks I'd lie awake
                       C                      G
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
           C
Now those memories come back to haunt me
           G           D      Em
They haunt me like a curse
       Am                                                    G                     C
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true    Or is it something worse

                         Em             C                         D                        G
That sends me down to the river   Though I know the river is dry
                         Em              C       D   C
That sends me down to the river tonight
 Em          C        D       G
Down to the river my baby and I
    Em          C                  D  C
Oh down to the river we ride     Ooh..
Em  C  D  G       Em  C

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