Out across cities I see buildings burn into piles
And watch the world in wonder as mountains turn into tiles
And trees losing their leaves and faces becoming tired
I wish I could discover something that doesn't expire
Come and stumble me

Take me river carry me far
Lead me river like a mother
Take me over to some other unknown
Pull me in the undertow

Such are the things that make a kingdom rumble and shatter
The same dynamic that another day would never matter
It really just depends on who's giving and who's receiving
And things that don't make sense are always a little deceiving.
Come and humble me

Take me river carry me far
Lead me river like a mother
Take me over to some other unknown
Pull me in the undertow

I wanna go where you're going
A follower following
Changing but never changed
Claiming but never claimed

Take me river carry me far
Lead me river like a mother
Take me over to some other unknown
Pull me in the undertow

Take me river carry me far
Lead me river like a mother
Take me over to some other unknown
Pull me in the undertow

Take me river carry me far
Lead me river like a mother
Take me over to some other unknown
Pull me in the undertow


Lyrics submitted by LovelyMauve

River Lyrics as written by Valerie Poxleitner Thomas Salter

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

River song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

7 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +2
    General Comment

    sorry but i saw this somewhere and it made me laugh :)

    take me, twitter, carry me far a follower, following

    lol

    lovemusicdorkon May 02, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    Your lyrics are pretty spot on, just a few little corrections. I got these from the album booklet: "Out across cities I see buildings burn into piles" "And trees losing their leaves and our faces becoming tired" "Put me in the undertow" "I want where you're going"

    As for the meaning of the song, I see it as being tired of life and wanting to get away, or something to that effect. I love the chorus, it's catchy.

    sorrytryagainon September 23, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    beautiful! ...music is very energetic, meaningful, and her voice works really well in it all. the lyrics deal with wanting to find somewhere you belong, I believe, in a world where aesthetic everything seems to fit in anywhere. or to just believe in something firmly and completely...you know?

    AlecsPenon October 16, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think that this song is talking more about the environment and how we're destroying it "And watch the world in wonder as mountains turn into tiles" but i do get the wanting to be taken somewhere else meaning too "Take me river, carry me far"

    lovemusicdorkon February 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Lights has seen all the the problems in the world, and wants to be away from them. And this 'river' is her chance out. The river seems so powerful, protective, yet uncontrollable, and still like a mother-figure. But Lights has that feeling where she questions if following the 'river' is really what she wants.

    SourBlueon June 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    I believe that this song is a mix of what "lovemusicdork" and "sorrytryagain" were saying. To me, it seems like it's saying she wants to get away from problems, but it's also saying that we are destroying nature, and she's asking the river to take her away from all the destruction.

    "Such are the things that make a kingdom rumble and shatter The same dynamic that another day would never matter It really just depends on who's giving and who's receiving And things that don't make sense are always a little deceiving Come and humble me"

    This leads me to believe she's saying that nature makes a kingdom fall, literally, not government/economically. Ivy grows up on the walls, and tears it down. We're constantly taking from nature, but we're also receiving more than we think about. We get our oxygen from plants, and wood from trees, food from plants. But we are also constantly hacking away at nature, trying to take what we believe to be ours. You've mowed your lawn? You've attacked nature.

    Nature wouldn't miss us if we disappeared, it would scarcely realize we were gone. But if plants vanished, we wouldn't be able to survive.

    MusicWormon August 03, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    One great aspect of the song is where she chooses to breathe - after the second word in every verse and continuing after that. Her breaths are short and deliberate which adds to the meaning - feel that she needs to get away. The river - swift, strong, and rapid - is like her breaths and nicely contrast with the slow tempo of the song.

    cheloniaon April 01, 2013   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.