SLS: The River Flows

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For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, as he tells us in his post, Matching Song And Movie Titles,  Jim is inviting us to play a song that was used as the title of a movie. The one I’m going for is ever so slightly off target, as the movie title was a shorter version of the song’s name, but it was in the movie so that’s good enough for me! It is probably an obvious choice for someone of my vintage, but it was a great movie and I really like the song, so what’s to lose?

This is my tune for today:

The Byrds, with Ballad of Easy Rider, as the clip demonstrated very well. And here are its lyrics:

The river flowsIt flows to the seaWherever that river goesThat’s where I want to be

Flow river flowLet your waters wash downTake me from this roadTo some other town
All he wantedWas to be freeAnd that’s the wayIt turned out to be
Flow river flowLet your waters wash downTake me from this roadTo some other town
Flow river flowPast the shaded treeGo river, goGo to the seaFlow to the sea
The river flowsIt flows to the seaWherever that river goesThat’s where I want to be
Flow river flowLet your waters wash downTake me from this roadTo some other town
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Roger McGuinn
Ballad of Easy Rider lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

 

The movie Easy Rider first hit cinemas in July 1969. To say that it was a success is something of an understatement: it cost around $400k to make and grossed more than $60m worldwide. I saw it when it first came out – illegally, as I was only 16 and its certificate here meant that you had to be 18 – but I guess they were happy to take anyone’s money. I loved it then and still do, though it does feel a little dated these days: very much a piece of its time. The movie has become something of a cult, and is credited with being at the forefront of a counterculture movement in American filmmaking at the time, as distinct from the Hollywood mainstream. It won several awards, and in 1998, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

If you haven’t seen it I won’t include any spoilers, just the recommendation that you seek it out: if nothing else it has a great soundtrack! Bob Dylan was asked to contribute music, but was reluctant to use his own recording of “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”, so a version performed by Roger McGuinn of The Byrds was used instead. Also, instead of writing an entirely new song for the film, Dylan simply wrote out the first verse of what became Ballad of Easy Rider and told the filmmakers, “Give this to McGuinn, he’ll know what to do with it.” Mr McGuinn duly completed the song and performed it in the film.

As well as the movie version, The Byrds also recorded their own take on the song: The clip I am playing is a mash up of scenes from the movie backed by The Byrds’ version of the song. They released that as a single and it later became the title track of their eighth album: released in the US in November 1969, peaking at #36, and in January 1970 in the UK, where it reached #41. The single got to #65 in the US and #68 in Canada, but didn’t make the charts anywhere else. Despite his contribution, Bob Dylan didn’t receive a songwriting credit for the record: he would have done, but after seeing a private screening of the movie before it was released, on which he was credited, he demanded that his name be removed, and it duly was. Speculation as to why he did that suggests that he might have felt that his name was being used to give the movie credibility, or that he just didn’t like it.

I usually like to play a couple of tunes for SLS, and could have given you the cover of this song by Fairport Convention in their early, pre-English folk days. That would have been an opportunity to share again the wonderful voice of Sandy Denny, but I’m not taking that route. Instead I’m going left-field, with another song released in 1969 which has Easy Rider in its title. This one:

That was Brewer And Shipley with Rise Up (Easy Rider) from their album Weeds. As I said, that was also a 1969 release, and makes me wonder if there is any connection with the movie. The Songfacts website has a suggestion of a link, as this song has a theme of disagreement between Rednecks and Hippies, which is a good fit for the movie. But given the timescales involved in recording songs and releasing albums I’m not convinced, so it might just be a coincidence. Or it might not. It’s a lovely tune, though, from a fantastic album.

And there you have it from me for today. Thanks as always to Jim for hosting this feast of music, and I’ll see you again for some more Tuesday Tunes. Take care 😊

38 thoughts on “SLS: The River Flows”

  1. Pingback: February Flew By | Take It Easy

  8. I am familiar with many of the songs by the Byrds and I do know this one, but the Brewer and Shipley song was new to me. Peter Fond became a hero after Easy Rider, but Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson made this movie great in my opinion. I thought it was interesting that Dylan didn’t want to have his name attached to the movie, but he was good friends with McGuinn, and he was known for giving some of his songs away.

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    • I thought you’d know this one, but Brewer and Shipley went under the radar for most, and the possible connection gave me a good reason to play them too.

      The Byrds and Dylan had a lot of links – they made a whole album of his songs! His refusal of credit for this has always intrigued me too.

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  9. Fabulous post, Clive! 💖 I loved Easy Rider and its soundtrack back in 1969 and still do. And yes, the Brewer and Shipley connection intrigued me as well. It’s such a beautiful song!

    P.S. Thanks for visiting The Doglady’s Den and liking so many of my posts. Comments are always welcome too. 🙂

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    • Thank you, Debbie, I’m pleased you liked it. It was a great movie, made all the more so by the state of shock in which we left the cinema. The Brewer and Shipley one is a long time favourite of mine: the whole album is lovely.

      You’re welcome for the visits – and the reminder about comments is well made.

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    • The signature track didn’t give the film its title, so was outside the remit for today. For me, it was a nice change to play one of the lesser known ones from the soundtrack and add in another for fun. I’m pleased you liked them 😊

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    • Thank you, Marina, I’m pleased you liked it all. I played another track from the Brewer and Shipley album a couple of weeks ago, but I don’t think you saw that one. Tuesday Tunes 238 if you’re interested 😊

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