Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on.
I made my baby cry.

Joni Mitchell’s “River” is an interesting song in that it adopts part of its melody from Jingle Bells. If you were to tell me, “You have to hear this great song, it sounds a little like Jingle Bells” I would tell you to GTFO. But somehow it works. Mitchell’s “River” is not about Christmas. it is about a breakup that happens around Christmas time. Mitchell hurts her lover and by hurting him, she hurts. It makes her want to do anything to escape. Where to? On a river of course.

She sees the rivers that seem to go on indefinitely and she thinks that maybe if she starts skating she’ll escape her current predicament. She takes a lot of blame for the hurt caused in the relationship. It is a refreshing take to hear her assessment of her part of the breakup: “I’m so hard to handle/ I’m selfish and I’m sad/ Now I’ve gone and lost the best baby I’ve ever had.”

This is the third and final song called “River” on this list. We had the one by Vanessa Carlton, Springsteen and now Joni Mitchell. Clearly rivers are ripe for song imagery. Springsteen also thought of a river as a means to an escape as well. His concept was different though. He wanted to take his girlfriend down to the unfrozen river for some frolicking. Carlton viewed the river as a symbol of change.

River-Joni Mitchell-Lyrics

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.
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.
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.
I wish I had a river I could skate away on.

Oh, I wish I had a river so long,
I would teach my feet to fly.
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.