Song Lyric Sunday: Rivers

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Play a song that mentions River/Stream/Creek/Brook is the invitation for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, at the  suggestion of  Di of the pensitivity101 blog. Jim’s post, Naturally Flowing Water, tells us more. I’m playing you a couple of tunes for this, both of which take river as their theme. One is a long time favourite, the other a more recent release from what is probably my favourite band, among many!

Let’s start with the more recent one:

That is an unofficial video for the song, with a photo of the band in their much younger days: I went with it as the official YouTube ‘topic’ video is heavily restricted. The song’s lyrics are:

 

you are my mate, my long-lost friend 
you are my hope, my resonance 
you are the edge, my hidden blade 
you carry all the plans we made 

you are the path, my hidden trail 
you are the end, my holy grail 
you are my mood, my sudden rage 
you are my wit, my final page

there are no certainties 
we could fall, we could break apart 
you pick me up, you smile 
then the whole world starts

a river runs through you and me 
never reaches the ocean, never reaches the sea

there is no chance we cannot take 
no mistakes we will not make 
each time the whirlpool drags us down 
we come up laughing, spinning round 

we have nothing left to prove 
we have broken every rule 
and all the hurt that we feel 
just makes us stronger when we heal

the river runs so clear, runs so fast it blinds us 
meanders to the sea, turns back and surrounds us 
lifts us up, takes us down, the eddies swirl and bind us 
you and me, you and me

a river runs through you and me 
never reaches the ocean, never reaches the sea

Source: Oysterband website

Songwriters:Ray Cooper / John Jones / Alan Prosser
Copyright: Pukka Music 2014

Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976. I was born and brought up in East Kent and have always felt an affinity with the band, as well as others – such as Caravan – who also came from the area. I love their music, and have all of their albums – most of which were bought before the days when streaming took over. I have played them on numerous occasions but this is, I think, the first time for A River Runs. The track was included on their Diamonds In The Water album, which was released in March 2014 and achieved their highest UK chart placing: one week at #51! Folk rock isn’t exactly a chart mainstay here, but it is a genre that I have always enjoyed and which forms a large part of my collection. This is probably my favourite of the band’s albums: it is absolutely stuffed full of great songs and I recommend it highly if you enjoyed this one.

 

 

My second song for today is one that was a big part of the soundtrack to my uni days. This is a lyric video, which saves me the task:

America were formed in London by Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek and Gerry Beckley, who met in the late 1960s as sons of US Air Force personnel stationed in South Ruislip, near London. They found a shared love of music and got together as a band in 1970, and had breakout hits in 1972 with their eponymous debut album and their song A Horse With No Name. This track, Don’t Cross the River, is from their second album, Homecoming, which was released in November 1972, just ten months after their debut. It wasn’t quite the huge success of its predecessor but still performed respectably in the charts, peaking at #6 in Canada, #9 in the US and #21 in the UK. It went Platinum in the US for a million sales, and Gold in both Canada and Australia. As I said, I loved the album: I bought it from my earnings that year as a Christmas postman and played it to bits! Again, highly recommended by me – a little bit of American folk rock to counterbalance the English variety.

That’s me done for today. I hope you enjoyed these as much as I do. They have prompted the theme I will be using for this week’s Tuesday Tunes, and I hope to see you again for that. Until then, stay warm and well 😊

39 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: Rivers”

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  5. I had that America album at the time, always liked that band. I had never heard of Oysterband, but that’s a pleasant song. I might have gone with ‘Up On Cripple Creek’ by The Band, which I suggested for Jill’s The Band Week.

    Best wishes, Pete.

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    • They were good, weren’t they. I’m glad you liked the Oysterband one too – they are at the top of my list of favourites. I did think about The Band but thought it might be played by someone else – and it was. I try to play things for SLS that might not be chosen by others.

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    • Glad you like them, Nancy. Oysterband have a distinctive sound, don’t they – John Jones’ voice makes for that.

      Happy to have widened your knowledge of America, who started out here and had their first hit here before it went big over there.

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  11. Clive, I remember running across Oysterband’s name when doing research for Silly Sisters (iirc!) A very pretty melody and decent lyrics. I have started to listen to Caravan after hearing one of their tunes spotify. They have a wonderful sound to them. Did not know America was formed in London. Neat piece of trivia.

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  15. Clive! Can you imagine you and I choosing two different songs from the same band! this is truly a groundbreaking moment here on SLS!

    Now as for your first selection this was an introduction for me- but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

    America, I knew only by way of radio play, so I didn’t know they were USAF kids living in London area at the time, very interesting. I always wondered why the name America- maybe this is a clue….

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    • Quite the coincidence! I’ve just commented on yours too.

      I’m glad you liked Oysterband – they have loads more like that if you want to dig deeper.

      America chose their name when they started out playing gigs in London, as a sign that they were actually Americans and not just English guys trying to sound American. They took off here just before they made it over there.

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