R.E.M. – Find The River

Hey now, little speedy head
The read on the speed meter says
You have to go to task in the city
Where people drown and people serve
Don't be shy
Your just deserve
Is only just light years to go

Me, my thoughts are flower strewn
Ocean storm, bayberry moon
I have got to leave to find my way
Watch the road and memorize
This life that pass before my eyes
Nothing is going my way

The ocean is the river's goal
A need to leave the water knows
We're closer now than light years to go

I have got to find the river
Bergamot and Vetiver
Run through my head and fall away
Leave the road and memorize
This life that pass before my eyes
Nothing is going my way

There's no one left to take the lead
But I tell you and you can see
We're closer now than light years to go
Pick up here and chase the ride
The river empties to the tide
Fall into the ocean

The river to the ocean goes
A fortune for the undertow
None of this is going my way
There is nothing left to throw
Of Ginger, lemon, indigo
Coriander stem and rose of hay
Strength and courage overrides
The privileged and weary eyes
Of river poet search naivete
Pick up here and chase the ride
The river empties to the tide
All of this is coming your way


Lyrics submitted by shut, edited by JackD02025

"Find The River" as written by Peter Buck Bill Berry

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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41 Comments

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  • +10
    My InterpretationAutomatic for the People is my favorite album, and Find the River may be my favorite track on it. The entire album deals with different stages of life, from youth, to mid life crisis, to death, and at points the record does take the listener to a melancholy place. I'm fairly certain Find the River was chosen for the final track very purposefully. Like other tracks on the record it is a song about nearing the end, but instead of feeling any bitterness or regret, they rejoice in a great hope that someone they love will experience all the beauty that they have as the cycle of life continues. It offers a peace of mind knowing that loved ones will follow to see and experience the beauty of life beyond your own years. It takes Automatic for the People full circle and offers the listener a grand sense of hope despite loss.

    I often think of my Grandmother who has passed when I hear this song. The lessons she taught me, the hope that she instilled in me. She knew near the end, that life, its much bigger than ones self, its how you impact others, how you love, so that you in an essence can live beyond the grave through the people that cared about you.

    That's what I believe Find the River is about.
    Cliff1975on June 28, 2011   Link

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