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 wide
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
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 wide
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
Lyrics submitted by Novartza, edited by raymondjii
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It's a song about wanting to get away from everything and go back to simpler more innocent times!!
I’m a hard-hearted 55 year old man, and yet this evocative piece never fails to bring a tear to my eye because of that memory. By the way, there is a version of River on Herbie Hancock’s tribute to Joni Mitchell called the Joni Letters. On this CD, he performs the song with Corinne Bailey Rae on vocals, and it is absolutely wonderful. The two of them simply find the tune. Enjoy.
In Hotel California by Barney Hoskyns it points out that Blue was written very quickly after Joni's break-up with Graham Nash (of Crosby Still Nash and Young fame, and the Hollies). Apparently it was partly her jealousy and dedication to her music that drove them apart, though she loved him deeply.
To me, this song represents someone caught in a situation where everyone is happy and celebrating something(christmas)and the person is going through the loss of a relationship and its the only thing on their mind... and they just want to escape everything... skate away
I love how clever Joni was with her music, the piano beginning that has a hint of "Jingle Bells" in it, just to set the mood - I love it!
A masterpiece.
Isn't it tragical.
(Well, and don't we all know this...*sigh*)