Lyrics to
River

This version of River was released by Joni Mitchell in 1971.

Visit the Joni Mitchell Lyrics profile at Decade Lyrics - it has the River lyrics as well as the rest of the songs by Joni Mitchell.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Joni Mitchell or about the 1970s in general.

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,
Stays pretty green.
I’m gonna make a lot of money
And and then I’m gonna quit this crazy scene.
Oh, 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,
he put me at ease.
lord,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’ve ever had.
Oh, 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 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.

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Want more lyrics and songs by Joni Mitchell?

Joni Mitchell has released many songs over the years besides River. Joni Mitchell released songs from 1968 to 2007 spanning across albums like Song To A Seagull, Clouds, Ladies Of The Canyon, Blue, For The Roses, Court And Spark, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, Mingus, Wild Things Run Fast, Dog Eat Dog, Chalk Mark In A Rainstorm, Night Ride Home, Turbulent Indigo, Taming The Tiger, Both Sides Now, and Shine. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Joni Mitchell.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1971 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and River by Joni Mitchell

The lyrics for River are defined as the words making up the song released by Joni Mitchell in 1971. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to River have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Joni Mitchell and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to River by Joni Mitchell if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to River" means the words set to the music of River, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Joni Mitchell. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to River and the lyrics to River are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Joni Mitchell who came here looking just for the lyrics to River, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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