| Find The River |
Article Index for Find |
Website Links For River |
Information AboutFind The River |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT FIND THE RIVER | |
| 1993 singles | |
| r.e.m. songs | |
"Find the River" was the sixth and final single off of R.E.M. 's eighth studio album '' Automatic For The People ''. It was the twelfth and final track on this critically acclaimed release. The song failed to chart on the Hot 100 and struggled on the UK Singles Charts , reaching only №54. It was the first R.E.M. song to fail to reach the top 40 on either chart since "Get Up" in 1989 . Like most R.E.M. songs, the meaning of the song is not easily discernible. The most common explanation is that the song is about the narrator's life journey. He meanders through life, working away his days "in the city" while he watches "this life that pass before my eyes". However, it is just part of his path, his personal river. He has "to take the lead" as he draws closer to the end, where "the river empties to the tide." In the end, he concludes that no matter what he does, his life is speeding towards death. An alternate explanation would be that the song concerns finding meaning in life as one shares it with others. The song ends with the line "all of this is coming your way" that could be interpreted hopefully or despairingly. This interpretation looks at the lines "Take the road and memorize / this life that pass {Link without Title} before your eyes / all of this is coming your way" to mean that the narrator is speaking to a protégé of some sort and readying him or her for the future. Whether it is hopeful or despairing depends upon one's view of the world. A musical argument could be made, however, that the major key nature of the song and the constant triumph of the major chords over the minor and suspended chords in the song and the song's position at the end of an album created to serve the fans belies its general hopefulness. Regarding the song's backing vocals, Mike Mills explained to ''Melody Maker'': “'Harborcoat' from ''Reckoning'' has got me and Michael and Bill all doing completely unrelated things, and yet it works together. Because of the production we insisted on from Mitch and Don, which I know must have been incredibly frustrating for them, it’s hard to pick out exactly what’s going on. We tried it again on ‘Find The River’. I had the idea that Bill and I would go in and do some harmonies without listening to each other. It’s great because mine is this incredibly angst-ridden emotional thing, and Bill’s is this really low-key sort of ambling part. They’re two opposite ends of the spectrum but they’re both on there, and it’s a beautiful thing.” A common rumor was that this song was about River Phoenix and his death, but the song was written and recorded in 1992 for ''Automatic for the People''. River Phoenix did not die until October 1993. In ''An Hour with R.E.M.'', which aired on MTV UK prior to the band's televised performance at the Kölner Dom in Cologne, Germany, in 2001, Mills introduced the video and explained that he selected it "because... I've never seen it, and I have absolutely ''no idea'' what's on it." The video was shot in Malibu, California, directed by Jodi Wilde and featuring Southern artist Henry Hill. In the Warner Brothers promotional film for ''Automatic for the People'', the band is seen performing the song live in their Clayton Street rehearsal room. The live version of " Everybody Hurts " included here was performed by R.E.M. at the 10th annual MTV Video Music Awards in Universal City, Hollywood on September 2 1993 . The band was accompanied by Duane Saetveit on French horn and Bryan Harris on Bass . TRACK LISTING All songs written by Berry , Buck , Mills and Stipe . UK 7" Single # "Find the River" – 3:49 # "Everybody Hurts" (Live) – 5:32 CD Single # "Find the River" – 3:49 # "Everybody Hurts" (Live) – 5:32 # "Orange Crush (Instrumental)" – 3:54 EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|