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
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 Lyrics as written by Peter Buck Bill Berry
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
The song is, of course, about trying to grow up so fast ("Hey there little speedyhead"), only to look back as an old man and be overwhelmed by the beautiful memories. It's about trying in vain to communicate to the young what lies ahead, when "There is nothing left to throw of ginger, lemon, indigo, coriander stem, rose of hay ... all of this is coming your way." But, alas, the words fall on deaf ears, the young man's "strength and courage overrides the privileged and weary eyes of river poet search naivete."
This is said to be a very personal song for Michael Stipe, and it shows through in his voice and the cryptic, quickfire nature of his words. Everything comes together in this song to make it REM's best.
To me, this is likely the highlight of Automatic for the People. A song that I'll listen to when I need to appreciate the world and my small place in it for an unknown time. I hope this song means as much to you as it does to me.
the read on the speedmeter says
you have to go to task in the city
where people drown and people serve.
[ Old man to young man: "It's time for you to leave home and make your way out there, in a dangerous world." ]
Don't be shy. Your just deserve
is only just light years to go.
[ "Take risks. You have many years ahead of you." ]
Me, my thoughts are flower strewn
ocean storm, bayberry moon.
I have got to leave to find my way.
[ "Me, I'm a poet, a dreamer. I've always chosen to find my own path in life, because that's my way."]
Watch the road and memorize
this life that pass before my eyes.
Nothing is going my way.
[ "Keep your eyes open and remember what I'm telling you about my life. These lessons will serve you well." ]
The ocean is the river's goal,
a need to leave the water knows
We're closer now than light years to go.
[ "We all live independently, and we all someday die. You never have as much time as you imagine you do." ]
I have got to find the river,
bergamot and vetiver
run through my head and fall away.
[ "I've got to find my path in life. It's a unique one, an artist's path, a poet's path." ]
Leave the road and memorize
this life that pass before my eyes.
Nothing is going my way.
[ "Don't follow everybody else. Set your own course. Learn from me and my life. Nothing has been easy, but it's been good because it's been mine."]
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.
[ "There's not many others out there like you and me, independents who see and do things in our own unique way." ]
Pick up here and chase the ride.
The river empties to the tide.
Fall into the ocean.
[ "Start. Go forth. Live life -- your life. Do it now, because some day you're going to die." ]
The river to the ocean goes,
a fortune for the undertow.
[ "All paths in life end." ]
None of this is going my way.
[ "My life will end soon." ]
There is nothing left to throw
of Ginger, lemon, indigo,
coriander stem and rose of hay.
[ "I've made all beauty that I can in life. I've reached the end of my art, so now I know I'm nearing the end of my life." ]
Strength and courage overrides
the privileged and weary eyes
of river poet search naivete.
[ "Young artists must always take the place of older ones." ]
Pick up here and chase the ride.
The river empties to the tide.
All of this is coming your way
[ "It's your turn. Follow your artistic bliss. I've done everything I'm going to do, and I'm content and ready to be done with life, with art, with love." ]
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.
This is obviously aimed at a sibling. The loss of family members, especially parents, pulls the members that are remaining together. 'No one left to take the lead' refers to the heads of the family passing away.
Michael Stipe once said this:
"Find the River to me has a lot of emotional baggage. It doesn't have that much to do with anything that would make sense to anyone else but me, particularly. I know the place I wrote it. I know the connections I had with it when I wrote it. I know connections that came afterwards, people that died. So yes, I can sing that song... but we've tried and tried to work it into some form which will translate live and for whatever reason we can't seem to play it. It's like a curse."
It has to be written about people who are very close to him.