Album:
River from Joni Mitchell’s 1971 album Blue is well remembered by her fans, although the album didn’t chart in Australia. It was also on her 2005 compilation album Songs of a Prairie Girl.
Songwriter:
Joni Mitchell
Producer:
Joni Mitchell
Record label of US/Canada release:
Reprise
Wikipedia:
Although never released as a single, Joni Mitchell’s River from her album Blue holds second place among her songs most recorded by other artists.
The song is about the recent breakup of a romantic relationship, with the singer longing to escape her painful emotional bonds. It is thought to be inspired by Mitchell’s 1968–1970 relationship with Graham Nash. Although the song is merely set near Christmas time, rather than being about Christmas, it has become something of a modern Christmas standard.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_(Joni_Mitchell_song)
Songfacts:
At the start of 1970, Joni Mitchell’s relationship with her boyfriend Graham Nash was crumbling. On top of this, she was feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the mass adulation her recordings were receiving. The songstress needed to get away, so she took off on a trip to Europe, metaphorically skating away on a river to escape the crazy scene. While Mitchell was in Crete, she sent Nash a telegram to tell him their romance was over. On River, the Canadian singer gives her perspective on the doomed relationship as she yearns to escape the emotional bonds. She admits to being “hard to handle” and blames herself for losing “the best baby I ever had.”
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/joni-mitchell/river
Lyrics:
It’s coming on Christmas
They’re cutting down trees
They’re putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh, I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
But it don’t snow here
It stays pretty green
Click for full lyrics
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