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"The River" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, accompanied by the E Street Band. It was the title track of his fifth album, The River, and was a hit single in parts of Europe. It reached #25 in the Netherlands, and reached the top 10 in both Sweden and Norway. Its B-side was either "Independence Day" or "Ramrod," depending on the country.
"The River" was originally intended to be included on an earlier, one-record version of The River, tentatively called The Ties That Bind. The song itself was recorded at The Power Station in New York in July or August 1979. In an early performance Springsteen cites the inspiration as "my brother in law and my sister".
"The River" makes use of a haunting harmonica part, and in some ways is a precursor to the style of his next album, Nebraska. The imagery of the chorus and the end of the song were inspired by lines from Hank Williams' 1950 hit, "Long Gone Lonesome Blues". The song's depiction of how economic difficulties are interlaced with local culture also presaged the 1980s popularity of heartland rock:
I come from down in the valley,
Where mister when you're young —
They bring you up to do, like your daddy done
...
I got a job working construction, for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work, on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important —
Well mister, they vanished right into the air
Writer Robert Hilburn described the song as "a classic outline of someone who has to re-adjust his dreams quickly life as it is, not a world of his imagination."
Throughout the song the river is viewed as a symbol for the dreams of the future. The narrator keeps his hopes alive even as they realistically begin to fail.
That sends me down to the river,
Though I know, the river is dry.
It sends me down to the river, tonight
The song was debuted in public at the Musicians United for Safe Energy concerts at Madison Square Garden in September 1979, and was featured in the subsequent 1980 film No Nukes three months before The River's release.
"The River" was not released as a single in the U.S., but was released as a single in May 1981 in several countries in Western Europe. It placed number 35 on the UK Singles Chart. It also reached number 24 on the Irish Singles Chart, number 10 in Sweden's singles chart, number 6 in the Danish Top 20 and had its best showing with a number 5 placement on Norway's singles chart. In the U.S., it gained considerable album oriented rock airplay and became one of Springsteen's best-known songs. It was included on both his 1995 Greatest Hits and 2003 The Essential Bruce Springsteen compilations. The song was also incorporated in the European edition of the 2009 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits.
"The River", and a few other songs on The River, such as "Wreck on the Highway" and "Stolen Car", mark a new direction in Bruce Springsteen's songwriting: these ballads imbued with a sense of hopelessness anticipate his next album, Nebraska. Bruce Springsteen himself has noted that "Wreck on the Highway" is one of the songs reflecting a shift in his songwriting style, linking The River to Nebraska.
The aggregation of critics' lists at acclaimedmusic.net rated this song as the #25 song of 1980, as well as #239 of the 1980s and #1341 all time.
File Hashes
HASH1: 453F03E133F617F5
HASH2: D4BACAC2872FE877 (MP3)
HASH1: DFFCC84F0D325445 HASH2: 63F49BF6FDDA0371 (MP3)
HASH1: 510246FD94BABFFF HASH2: E71E3CFDBB0A47D6 (MP3)
Available in:
"The River" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, accompanied by the E Street Band. It was the title track of his fifth album, The River, and was a hit single in parts of Europe. It reached #25 in the Netherlands, and reached the top 10 in both Sweden and Norway. Its B-side was either "Independence Day" or "Ramrod," depending on the country.
"The River" was originally intended to be included on an earlier, one-record version of The River, tentatively called The Ties That Bind. The song itself was recorded at The Power Station in New York in July or August 1979. In an early performance Springsteen cites the inspiration as "my brother in law and my sister".
"The River" makes use of a haunting harmonica part, and in some ways is a precursor to the style of his next album, Nebraska. The imagery of the chorus and the end of the song were inspired by lines from Hank Williams' 1950 hit, "Long Gone Lonesome Blues". The song's depiction of how economic difficulties are interlaced with local culture also presaged the 1980s popularity of heartland rock:
I come from down in the valley,
Where mister when you're young —
They bring you up to do, like your daddy done
...
I got a job working construction, for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work, on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important —
Well mister, they vanished right into the air
Writer Robert Hilburn described the song as "a classic outline of someone who has to re-adjust his dreams quickly life as it is, not a world of his imagination."
Throughout the song the river is viewed as a symbol for the dreams of the future. The narrator keeps his hopes alive even as they realistically begin to fail.
That sends me down to the river,
Though I know, the river is dry.
It sends me down to the river, tonight
The song was debuted in public at the Musicians United for Safe Energy concerts at Madison Square Garden in September 1979, and was featured in the subsequent 1980 film No Nukes three months before The River's release.
"The River" was not released as a single in the U.S., but was released as a single in May 1981 in several countries in Western Europe. It placed number 35 on the UK Singles Chart. It also reached number 24 on the Irish Singles Chart, number 10 in Sweden's singles chart, number 6 in the Danish Top 20 and had its best showing with a number 5 placement on Norway's singles chart. In the U.S., it gained considerable album oriented rock airplay and became one of Springsteen's best-known songs. It was included on both his 1995 Greatest Hits and 2003 The Essential Bruce Springsteen compilations. The song was also incorporated in the European edition of the 2009 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits.
"The River", and a few other songs on The River, such as "Wreck on the Highway" and "Stolen Car", mark a new direction in Bruce Springsteen's songwriting: these ballads imbued with a sense of hopelessness anticipate his next album, Nebraska. Bruce Springsteen himself has noted that "Wreck on the Highway" is one of the songs reflecting a shift in his songwriting style, linking The River to Nebraska.
The aggregation of critics' lists at acclaimedmusic.net rated this song as the #25 song of 1980, as well as #239 of the 1980s and #1341 all time.
File Hashes
HASH1: 453F03E133F617F5 HASH2: D4BACAC2872FE877 (MP3) HASH1: DFFCC84F0D325445 HASH2: 63F49BF6FDDA0371 (MP3) HASH1: 510246FD94BABFFF HASH2: E71E3CFDBB0A47D6 (MP3) 
Rock 
Enlightened 
Rock/Pop 
31,175 
1,550 (5%)
None 
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UnlockedData Complete
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