American roots music — rock, blues, folk and country — contemplates and celebrates rivers perhaps more than any other habitat type or environmental issue. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a quick tour.
Forests? I’m drawing a blank.
Wetlands? There’s “Born on the Bayou,” but I don’t know of much else (and bayous are often rivers, anyhow).
Deserts? The Eagles went there to sleep beneath a million stars, and that sounds nice, but America went there with a horse with no name…and that was just silly.
Mountains, oceans? Well, I guess they may be up there as well. Climate change? The Scorpions can “Rock you like a Hurricane.” (OK, that was a cheap shot, as Neil Young, Bob Dylan and even Jimmy Buffet have better hurricane songs. How about Blondie’s “The Tide is High”?).
But rivers are intertwined throughout American roots music. They twist and bend through American history, and they provide the rhythmic backdrop for many treasured myths and stories. Rivers rise and fall like a blues guitar solo…and they meander off into the hazy, distant unknown, just as a great song can transport your mind to a more romantic place.
So below I offer my 10 favorite river songs, not in any ranked order. (Listen to a mix of 8 of them.) I’d love to hear from any readers with their thoughts on these songs and, more importantly, their own suggestions for favorite river songs and reasons.
- Woody Guthrie: “Roll On Columbia.” We tend to associate opposition to dams with left-leaning populism, so this song is a good reminder of the complex realities of dams. Although conservationists now emphasize the loss of salmon, it’s instructive to remember that at one time providing electricity to rural America by harnessing the mighty Columbia was a theme celebrated by America’s greatest folk singer with lyrics such as “Your power is turning our darkness to dawn, so roll on Columbia roll on.” (Admittedly, he was contracted by the Bonneville Power Administration to write songs, but he seemed generally inspired by the scale and power of the Columbia dams.)
- Randy Newman: “Burn On.” Newman’s maudlin arrangement and whimsical lyrics deftly capture the cognitive dissonance of a river — the Cuyahoga — catching fire. Several other songs have referenced the fire — including REM’s “Cuyahoga” and Adam Again’s ”River on Fire.” But note that the river has recovered considerably, as celebrated in songs by Alex Bevan and Crookneck Chandler as well as in the title of a tasty beer, Burning River Pale Ale, from Great Lakes Brewing Company.
- Johnny Cash: “Five Feet High and Rising.” The Man in Black singing about a flood. Enough said.
- Neil Young: “Down by the River.” Although I certainly don’t emulate the lyrics (which will become obvious if you listen to them carefully), I think my approach to work is a bit like Neil’s guitar solo here. Like my home office and inbox, his playing is loose and sloppy and sometimes mired in writer’s block (observe the single note he plays for almost 30 seconds), but he rises above the confusion and the mess with zeal, persistence and sheer force of will (don’t tell my wife, who will see this as an excuse to not straighten the place up).
- Aaron Neville: “Louisiana 1927.“ Written by Randy Newman, the song chronicles the heartbreak of the catastrophic 1927 Mississippi River flood, which displaced 700,000 people. I first heard this song played at benefits during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the words mournfully echoed the sense of loss and despair of late summer 2005: “Some people got lost in the flood, some people got away all right. Louisiana….Louisiana…they’re trying to wash us away…they’re trying to wash us away.”
- Emmanuel Jal: “Many Rivers to Cross.” When Jal — a Sudanese-born hip hop and soul artist — sings about crossing rivers as one of life’s challenges in this adaptation of a Jimmy Cliff song, he’s not being metaphorical. After serving as a coerced child soldier, he escaped his captors and, during his flight, had to swim across rivers filled with crocodiles and hippos. I challenge anyone to read his story and listen to his album Warchild and not feel overwhelmed with amazement for what he’s done co-mingled with heartache for the ongoing misery in war-torn parts of the world.
- Ike and Tina Turner: “Proud Mary.” Although many people think this song is called “Rolling on the River,” and it was originally written by Creedence Clearwater Revival, I like Ike and Tina’s version — at turns sultry, exuberant and rollicking. Also exuberant and rollicking — but mercifully not sultry — was a version of the song performed by Conservancy freshwater staff at a “talent show” during the closing banquet of a river management conference in China. Joining us on stage as backup singers were some of the most senior leaders of America’s two biggest water-management agencies. Despite the all-star line-up, we came in second in the talent competition to a guy who sang “Moon River” a cappella (although it should be noted he was executive vice-president of the hydropower company that sponsored the conference).
- Led Zeppelin: “When the Levee Breaks.” The effort to reform floodplain management in the United States should draw sustenance from this song’s relentless drums, wailing harmonica and nasty slide guitar. “Crying won’t help you, praying won’t do you no good…When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.”
- The Tragically Hip: “Chagrin Falls.” This Canadian band named their song after the small town in northeast Ohio (population 2,500) where I live. To them, its name seemed the geographical embodiment of an emotional descent to a low place. Despite the somber name, Chagrin Falls is actually a very pretty and friendly town that is centered around a river and picturesque waterfall.
- Bruce Springsteen: “The River.” I’ve already written about my love for Springsteen’s music. Here he uses the river as a symbol of youthful optimism and love that cannot be sustained into adulthood in a dying industrial town:
At night on them banks I’d lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she’d take.
Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse.
Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, or is it something worse?
That sends me down to the river, though I know the river is dry…
What are your favorites? Add them in the comments below.
(Image: Woody Guthrie. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.)
Tags: 1927 Mississippi River flood, Aaron Neville, Adam Again, Adam Again River on Fire, Alex Bevan, America Horse with No Name, Blondie The Tide is High, Bonneville Power Administration, Born on the Bayou, Bruce Springsteen, Burning River Pale Ale, Chagrin Falls Tragically Hip, Columbia dam, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crookneck Chandler, Cuyahoga, Cuyahoga song, dam, Emmanuel Jal, Emmanuel Jal story, favorite river song, favorite songs, Five Feet High and Rising, floodplain management, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Jal Warchild, Jimmy Buffet, Jimmy Cliff, Johnny Cash, Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin When the Levee Breaks, Louisiana 1927, Many Rivers to Cross, Mississippi flood, music about river, music about water, Neil Young, Neil Young Down by the River, Neil Young guitar solo, Proud Mary, Randy Newman Burn On, REM Cuhayoga, river music, river song, river tune, Roll on Columbia, roots music, Scorpions Rock You Like a Hurricane, Springsteen The River, Springsteen The River lyrics, The Eagles, Tragically Hip, Turner Proud Mary, Warchild, Woody Guthrie
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Talking Heads: “Take Me to the River.” And Nick Drake’s “River Man.”
She doesn’t technically count, but the Dr. Who character River Song (played by the amazing Alex Kingston) is worth honorable mention.
River! by Joni Mitchell
“Honeysuckle Blue” by Drivin’ and Cryin’ has a memorable line about the Chattahoochee. And in “West Texas Teardrops”, the Old 97’s present their theory on the creation of the Rio Grande:
“Though I felt a lonesome feeling in Dulce New Mexico,
I was happier than I’d ever been in my El Paso home.
But I thought about the woman whom I left to roam the land,
And I cried so much it dug a rut they call the Rio Grande.”
Old Man River by Paul Robeson is a withering indictment of capitalism and the vanity/futility of human endeavors.
My mind goes immediately to American Standards, i.e. “Deep River,” “Cry Me a River.” I have an enduring image from the movie ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ of a melancholy Holly Golighty, Audrey Hepburn, wistfully strumming on the fire escape of her New York City apartment singing “Moon River.”
Perhaps more than any other environmental metaphor, a river represents transition and the passage of time. Rivers can be serene, angry, soothing, a destroyer as well as a genesis, but always rolling on.
One last pop suggestion, Duran Duran’s “Her Name is Rio.”
The original “When the Levee Breaks” was produced by the blues musical duo Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie. In the first half of 1927, the Great Mississippi Flood ravaged the state of Mississippi and surrounding areas. It destroyed many homes and ravaged the agricultural economy of the Mississippi Basin. Many people were forced to flee to the cities of the Midwest in search of work, contributing to the “Great Migration” of African Americans in the first half of the 20th century. During the flood and the years after it subsided, it became the subject of numerous Delta blues songs, including “When the Levee Breaks”, hence the lyrics, “I works on the levee, mama both night and day, I works so hard, to keep the water away” and “I’s a mean old levee, cause me to weep and moan, gonna leave my baby, and my happy home”. The song focused mainly on when more than 13,000 residents in and near Greenville, Mississippi evacuated to a nearby, unaffected levee for its shelter at high ground. The tumult that would have been caused if this and other levees had broken was the song’s underlying theme.
(Shamelessly lifted straight from Wikipedia)
PJ Harvey- Down by the water
Sea Wolf- uh, most of their songs!
RHCP- Under the bridge
My current favorite river song (not on this list) is the absolutely haunting “Cold River” by John Hiatt off the Master of Disaster album.
Neil Young’s “Down by the River” is also a favorite. (I have five versions of this on my iTunes list)
Other favorites (in no particular order):
Down to the River to Pray (Who can forget the O Brother Where Art Thou version from Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, et al? )
Dreadful Wind and Rain (aka. Oh, the Wind and Rain) (traditional — look for a Jerry Garcia version)
Meet Me by the River’s Edge (Gaslight Anthem)
Come to the River (The Jayhawks)
Many Rivers to Cross (Jimmy Cliff)
Big River (Johnny Cash — often covered by The Grateful Dead)
Texas River Song (Townes VanZandt)
Rivers of Babylon (Melodians, from The Harder They Come soundtrack)
River Man (Nick drake)
James River Blues (Old Crow Medicine Show)
Find the River (REM)
Alanson, Crooked River (Sufjan Stevens)
Mississippi (Bob Dylan, Love & Theft)
OH — and can’t forget the band: Okkervil River (The Stage Names and Stand Ins are both solid albums, anything prior to that isn’t worth the ten bucks on iTunes.)
As for Forests, here’s four off the top of my head:
Deep Elm Blues (traditional)
Wildwood in the Pines (Johnny Cash)
Where Did You Sleep last Night? (Leadbelly/Nirvana cover)
Remember the Mountain Bed (Woody Guthrie, Billy Bragg and Wilco)
everything i could think of off the top of my head
many rivers to cross – jimmy cliff
river song – dennis wilson
stream running over – the apples in stereo
peace like a river – paul simon
the cool, cool river – paul simon
river – joni mitchell
down in the river to pray – traditional?
fall in a river – badly drawn boy
find the river – rem
lazy river – louis prima
munky river – presidents of the united states of america
red river valley – traditional?
river man – nick drake
sitting by the riverside – the kinks
black water – doobie brothers
up on cripple creek – the band
cripple creek ferry – neil young
muddy water – roger miller (from the musical “big river”)
Even though Dave and Bob named just about all of ‘em, how about something from Iceland’s MÚM, “A River Don’t Stop To Breathe”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OYtEcOID4k
OKAY, That was fun: here are the songs I can think of right now about rivers or the concept is around rivers: not really favorites but they have a river theme!
Watching The River Flow: Bob Dylan
River Euphrates: pixies
Let it Ride: Ryan Adams
River of Jordan: Janis Joplin
Mississippi River: Janis Joplin
River: Joni Mitchell
Proud Mary: Creedance Clearwater
Lazy River: Louis Armstrong
Moonriver: Andy Williams
Whiskey River: Willie Nelson
Into the Mystic (river;0)) Van Morrison
Cry me a River: Ella Fitzgerald
The River in Reverse: elvis costello
Rivers of Bablyon
Badfish: Sublime :0)
The River: Garth Brooks
The River of Dreams: Billy Joel
An eclectic, lame-free 10-song setlist:
Sun Kil Moon, “Carry Me Ohio”
Doves, “Caught by the River”
Drive-By Truckers, “TVA” and “Uncle Frank” (two views of the TVA)
The Clash, “London Calling” (“live by the river!”)
REM, “Cuyahoga”
The Pogues, “The Broad Majestic Shannon”
The Refreshments, “Tributary Otis”
Dennis Wilson, “River Song”
A.A. Bondy, “False River”
What about Paradise by John Prine? That’s got “freshwater blog” written all over it–nostalgia, riparian death, pillaging coal companies, and a soggy water burial to top it all off.
Mine is “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” by Pete Seeger.
Ride the River by eric clapton and jj cale
whiskey river by willie nelson
swamp river days by john fogerty
laughing river by greg brown
“Where I Go” by Natalie Merchant is one of my all-time favorite songs:
I go to the river to soothe my mind/to ponder over the crazy days in my life/just sit and watch the river flow…
Jeff.. perhaps you didn’t want to list too far in the direction of Ohio rivers, but you have to include “On the Banks of the Ohio,” a traditional folk tune in which a lovesick man murders the object of his unrequited affection and leaves her on the banks of the Ohio River. Yeah, it’s harsh, but tender enough for Joan Baez (and Cash and Doc Watson, I beleive).
Midnight Oil’s “River Runs Red” is a great song with a powerful environmental message.
Great list of songs. And there is a whole genre of music inspired by the big, and beautiful Mississippi River and the landscape and culture that it nourished – the Mississippi Delta Blues.
Did anyone mention Black Water, by The Doobie Brothers?
Another, albeit silly, wetland marsh song is Lump by The Presidents of the United States of America.
How about “Up A Lazy River” by Bing Crosby? That’s going way back.
Allen Toussaint and Elvis Costello’s River in Reverse…Chilling and powerful.
“Bamboo” by the late, great Dave Van Ronk.
Though our minds be filled with questions
In our hearts we’ll understand
When the river meets the sea
I think that’s my favorite river song. As performed by Emmett Otter and his mom in Jim Henson’s “Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas.” It’s soulful. It’s touching. It’s Muppets. I think we all agree that those are the three pillars of song.
I’ll second Bob on “Take Me to the River”, but I have a preference for the Al Green version.
“Washing of the Water” by Peter Gabriel. I’ve not always been his biggest supporter, but there’s something about his grainy falsetto and the simple arrangement that makes this song easy to digest.
River, show me how to float
I feel like I’m sinking down
Thought that I could get along
But here in this water
My feet won’t touch the ground
I need something to turn myself around
Familiar river themes present – cleansing, renewal and a baptism in hope as the waters push us towards the horizon. It’s what’s not there that helps me hear the message though. The absence of polyrhythms and competing layers of sound makes some much needed space to feel his plea. The bridge almost gets away from him, but it’s a drum, a piano, a voice and the river that keeps it on track.
Lastly, one that you might not have heard of is on “The Power of One” Soundtrack. It’s called “Limpopo River Song” performed by the Bulawayo Church Choir. The soundtrack as a whole is pretty remarkable but this song in particular is a really cool example of African choral music, pulsating back and forth in a series of call and response phrases. Also a good example of people who appreciate and honor their relationship with a water source. I can’t remember what the translation is, but the chirping of the chorus leader and the booming rebuttals resonate with enough meaning to conquer the language barrier. If you haven’t heard this soundtrack before, I highly recommend it. You can skip the Teddy Pendergrass track (no offense Teddy, RIP), but the rest of it is powerful stuff.
So, there’s my $.02. As we continue to fight to protect these sources of life (and commerce), maybe we could use a river that fights back? River Tam from the Firefly/Serenity series might do the trick. What? Bob referenced Dr. Who, so I figured fictional characters were fair game.
How about
Green River by Creedence Clearwater Rivival
Old River by Hazel Dickens
Katie Lee should be somewhere on any list of river songs. Almost anything from her Folkways album Songs of the Colorado River, or others.
Sometimes Dylan’s “Watching the River Flow” is just the right tune.
And I like the Talking Heads’ version of “Take Me to the River”.
Erie Canal, by anyone.
Clearly, Jeff, you haven’t hit the refresh button on your music archive since pre-itunes days when wife, kids and work were but a misty dream on road trips through God’s country and late nights in the smokey bars of Austin, TX. Oh Little Sisters….
Missing from your list is Adam Arcurgi’s tune Bottom of the River.’ Here’s a link to a OneTakeNYC clip shot in the bottom of NYC.
http://www.blogotheque.net/Adam-Arcuragi,4114
No need to be US-centric! How could we forget the finger-snappin “Song of the Volga Boatmen”? And of course the Blue Danube waltz.
Wow! Lefties and river songs! You say homemade peanut butter and I say sugar-free blueberry preserves! I would like to add the album “Johnny Cash sings story songs about Rivers and Trains (high-speed commuter trains that replace highways clogged with carbon burping SUVs, I am sure) and Mississippi River Blues by Big Bill Broonzy!
Don Henley’s “Good-bye to a River” is one of the most moving songs ever about a river.
“Moon River”
“Watching the River Run” by Kenny Loggins
Love the post!
“Black Muddy River” by The Grateful Dead
Somebody mentioned Okkervil River: “OH — and can’t forget the band: Okkervil River (The Stage Names and Stand Ins are both solid albums, anything prior to that isn’t worth the ten bucks on iTunes.)” I highly disagree with your assessment that anything prior to that isn’t worth $10.00…their first record “Don’t Fall in Love with Everyone You See” has the beautiful “Okkervil River Song,” and “Black Sheep Boy” is simply a masterpiece. You are seriously short-changing yourself if you exclude these two….
Black Muddy River and Big River, both by the Grateful Dead. Roll on, Jerry
some of my favorites, wonder why so many people are interested in this?
“Sea Refuses No River” Pete Townshend
“Wash My Soul In The River’s Floor” Archie Roach
“Wade In The Water” (never knew until checking that this had both a biblical reference, as well as instructional for escaping slaves to throw dogs off their trail)
Lots of river songs to be sure and lots of them I like, but how about all Wild Places — the song and the album, “The Wild Places” by Dan Fogelberg
Danny gets bonus points for the Pogues.
How about an ‘honorable mention’ wetlands song: “Jambalaya (on the bayou)” by Hank Sr.
Wow! you live in CF, too?
Mikey and Brian’s mom
The River song! It is usually sang by my mother before I sleep:) Is was about 16 years ago:) It is such a nice song. i love it>
Check ‘Don’t Killowatt’ and ‘What you don’t know can hurt you’ at Million Dollar Nile.
Take Me to the River…David Byrne
Though its not really about a river, I like Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run” anyway. Thanks for reminding me of “Roll on Columbia”. We used to belt that out during music sessions in the third grade (along with a lot of other rootsy stuff) a long time ago.
Oh! I’ve got one — “Let the River Run” by Carly Simon (the theme from “Working Girl”). Very soaring and anthemic.
Wow, you posters surely listen to a lot of obscure, little-known artists! Many of the songs and artists on these lists are songs I’ve never heard of done by artists I’ve never heard of.
Personally, I prefer Creedence’s version of “Proud Mary” to Ike and Tina Turner’s. Ike and Tina’s version is too frenetic for my taste.
Just the other day I was trying to think of who did “Black Water.” Was it the Doobies? Somehow that doesn’t sound right to me. Maybe I’m just misremembering.
Oops! I neglected to mention “Blue Bayou” by both Roy Orbison and Linda Rondstadt. {:-)
Wow great songs, gee the memories of listening to “Black Water” while riding the schoolbus. “89 – W L S !”
I don’t have the complete ref but how about Crosby Nash Stills (and maybe Young) from Daylight Again … ummm forgot the name … lyrics “river seems dreamlike” … “maybe he’s crazy for the deep” … “while they dance …” Cool dreamy song.
Ok, to name a local Chicagoland artist, Lee Murdock has an entire compilation of Great Lakes and rivers freshwater songs. Of fishermen, sailors, steam and canvas. His song about the Ilinois & Michigan canal navies (Irish workers) is haunting.
River by Yonder Mountain String Band!!!!!!! There are also several river songs by Sam Bush!