A River So Long

December 25, 2021 10:51 AM

Fifty years after it was released, Joni Mitchell has debuted the first official music video for 'River.' In her words, 'River expresses regret at the end of a relationship... but it's also about being lonely at Christmas time... A Christmas song for people who are lonely at Christmas! We need a song like that.'

The animated video was directed by Matvey Rezanov. 'River' has been covered by, among many others, Brandi Carlile (at the Kennedy Center Honors), Madeleine Peyroux and k.d. lang, Margo Price, Herbie Hancock and Corinne Bailey Rae, and Olivia Rodrigo.

posted by box (21 comments total)

That was beautiful, thank you. That's one of my favourite Christmas songs, and I agree with her.
posted by Athanassiel at 11:03 AM on December 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

Indigo Girls (well, Emily really) put a live cover of River on their 1200 Curfews album. Haunting and intense version, really.
posted by hippybear at 11:25 AM on December 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

What a lovely song for missing a place, as well as a person. And what a kind ending to the visuals.
posted by clew at 11:35 AM on December 25, 2021

Beautiful video, evocative of her style from back then. Thanks for the heads up.

I don't think it's possible to enumerate all the covers of this song. It's in the same category as "Yesterday". At least in the 80s and 90s anyone busking in the Ottawa Byward market on a December Saturday afternoon was required to play this, a few blocks from a frozen canal.
posted by morspin at 12:40 PM on December 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

I sampled the other options, but nobody sings it like Joni.
posted by Well I never at 12:56 PM on December 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

Another cover: Robert Downey, Jr? I guess that's really him?
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:16 PM on December 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

I don't think it's possible to enumerate all the covers of this song.

Second Hand Songs begs to differ.

Like most of Joni's songs, it's a tough one to cover and make your own. The melody is built for Joni's voice and so you're always basically doing Joni. I also think her phrasing and lyrical emotional content are so in sync that any phrasing alterations have a high risk of falling flat.

There's nice variation in the instrumentation — I'm digging the Sixpence None the Richer version.
posted by wemayfreeze at 1:21 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Heard this on the PA at an open-air outlet mall festooned with holiday decorations during Thanksgiving and my mood was shattered. I guess it's a Christmas song, but not being at all jolly I wonder why it gets mixed in with the likes of Deck The Halls and Jingle Bell Rock.
posted by Rash at 1:36 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is just lovely.

I really like Rezanov's watercolor style animations.

There's a short page about the video at the Rhino website.

I imagine I would have missed this if it weren't for your post, box. Thank you so much for sharing it with us!
posted by kristi at 3:14 PM on December 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

this was the version i grew up with. it's been in my head a lot this year, as this is the loneliest christmas i think i've ever had.
posted by emmling at 4:17 PM on December 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

Always makes me think of Ottawa and missing Canada too / wanting to go back home.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:29 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

I’m quite fond of Tracey Thorn’s 2012 cover
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:33 PM on December 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

I sampled the other options, but nobody sings it like Joni.

Which is to say, if I may be so bold as to interpret, they don't quite literally give one goosebumps from neck to heel.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:33 PM on December 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

For ‘lonely at Christmas,’ the gut-buster is Stan Rogers’ “First Christmas (Away From Home”.
posted by mmiddle at 4:59 PM on December 25, 2021

Stunning. This song brings me back to when I was 15, and the video is that rare one that does justice to the song and the singer. Thanks for posting.
posted by bluesky43 at 6:50 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Yes, this is the Christmas that I know and love. Yes, I am alone.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 7:12 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

double plus "river." love the image of a river so long i can skate away on it. not that i could skate that far. have skated on ponds and lakes, don't think ever a river. beautiful song. went looking for a version i heard on the radio the other day, but it was just another joni recording.

for lonely sad christmas, may i suggest the louvin brothers "shut in at christmas" and walter brennan's "just three letters for christmas."
posted by 20 year lurk at 7:32 PM on December 25, 2021

Guy Garvey’s version is a favorite of mine.

Thank you, box; what a lovely surprise.
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:16 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Second Hand Songs begs to differ.

There's a time sink if I ever saw one, but it instantly failed my comprehensiveness test: no listing for the late-70s cover of Springsteen's pre-signing "Cherokee Queen" by Shooter, an obscure Toronto AOR band (I guess that's going to happen now…).
posted by morspin at 10:58 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

I love “River,” and this is a beautiful video.

For another sad lonely Christmas song, may I recommend the Good Lovelies’ cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Song for a Winter’s Night.” I find it much more melancholy than the original, actually.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:40 AM on December 26, 2021

I have a weird history of never having heard songs that everyone has heard a bunch. Yesterday was one, and this, I now realize, is another. My goodness, that was gorgeous. Tears falling down my face. What a beautiful song and video
posted by treepour at 12:47 PM on December 27, 2021 [2 favorites]