River
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
I'm going to make a lot of money
Then I'm going to quit this crazy scene
I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I made my baby cry
He tried hard to help me
You know, he put me at ease
And he loved me so naughty
Made me weak in the knees
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I'm so hard to handle
I'm selfish and I'm sad
Now I've gone and lost the best baby
That I ever had
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly
Oh I wish I had a river
I made my baby say goodbye
It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
Commentary
One of my favourite Christmas songs and one that I’m always haunted by in this season (i’ve been wandering around humming it for three days now). There’s something so heartbreaking about the refrain that hearing it again and again you can feel yourself almost lifted on wings of sorrow and loneliness and longing. I think it’s an incredible example of how one simple yet beautiful line, repeated again and again can be more eloquent than all the passionate verse in the world (the only thing I can compare it to is Neruda: Tonight I can write the saddest lines). To really appreciate it you need to hear the song of course, because there’s Joni Mitchell’s incredible voice to accompany it, but I think even by themselves the lyrics are brilliant.
So here’s hoping that the new year brings us all the rivers we’ve been dreaming of.
Merry Christmas,
— Aseem
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Kanan Ajmera · 25 December 2003
Oh, this is such a pleasant change from the sugar coated, repeated to death “Rudolph the red nose reindeer, its snowing, its snowing, etc”. I personally like the way she acknowledges with warmth the songs of Christmas as that of joy and peace!
Thank god someone fished this song out. It will change the last few days of the year for me! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
Kanan
Alkemygirl · 25 December 2003
wow—great one and I enjoyed and connected to the commentary. I am glad you (minstrels)are back.
P.S. what is your full name? I am reading Siddartha and wondered if this was it. Do you not go by the nickname Sid? Seems like an anglicized version of a name that means so much more in Sanskrit. Happy (spirit of) Christmas….
D Sampson · 17 January 2004
Joni Micthell is the most beautiful and brilliant woman of all time. Everytime I hear her voice my heart cries out in pain and longing. She is an archetype for all artists to aspire to. Her use of words and imagery bring tears to my eyes. I can say nothing more than I love her.
MPRichter · 5 February 2005
I’ve loved this song since first listening. It’s beauty was brought home when I was unwillingly part of a Dec 23 shopping spree at Nordstroms in Southern California’s Glandale Galleria.
There was nothing Christmas-y about the Southern California outside and nothing genuinely Christmas-y about the mall. And there definitely was nothing at all Christmas-y about Nordstroms where conga lines of mad shoppers grabbed rack items, briefly held them then tossed them to the floor. You could not walk anywhere without stepping on merchandise. I had never seen such behavior.
My travelling companion/captor had to have a pair of Kenneth Cole shoes that were “on sale”. I sat with him in a shoe seat waiting for a salesperson to show. With each minute I was growing more uncomfortable. I was having a Kenneth Cole reaction.
Then from the overhead holiday season Muzak speakers came, “It’s coming on Christmas, they’re cutting down the trees…”
I was stunned. Stunned because I would be hearing a beautiful song in the middle of this commercial mall madness and stunned because some pack of Muzak fools, or, more likely, some pack of foolish Muzak computers, glommed onto this song and added it to the mall holiday season playlist because the word “Christmas” appeared in the lyrics.
I savored the moment but was all too quickly whipsnapped back to consumer hell when the Joni Mitchell song ended and a less lovely ching-ching-ching Christmas song sleigh belled in.
I sat and watched the shoe clerk and the conga line consumers fighting an unwinnable battle. My Kenneth Cole reaction returned. I wished I had a river to skate away on.
FoxSnooze · 20 December 2006
Every Christmas season a small event happens that puts me into “holiday mode”. This year it was a series of small events: …hearing a version of “River” on a videotape of “E.R.” (of all things), and then Googling for the lyrics, then getting to your site, and finally, …reading MPRichter’s post.
Anyway, …Merry Christmas, and thanks for posting the lyrics.