The River...

[ZannaPerry]

...by Bruce Springsteen... I have this song on a CD and keep playing it over and over. It's one of those story songs and it's pretty famous and if anyone knows it could. you. please. tell. me. what. it. is. about?? I don't get it. I read somewhere the couple in the song were based on his sister and brother-in-law. But really....someone please explain this song to me.

THANKS!

[Vito]

Yes, the song is partly based on the experiences of Bruce's older sister Virginia ("Ginny" is her nickname) and her husband. I'm not sure if Ginny really got pregnant before they were married, like the character "Mary" in the song, but I'm pretty sure her husband was a construction worker like the young man in the song. Evidently, Ginny and her husband -- just like the couple in the song -- had serious money problems after they got married, problems that dashed their hopes and dreams for the future.

My interpretation of the song is that the young couple later goes back to the river where they had once swam and made love together, in the days when they were still young, innocent, and full of hope. They know that the river is now dry, but they go there anyway, in a futile attempt to regain their lost innocence. The river really is "dry" -- the water is gone -- but I think the barren river also symbolizes the loss of their hopes and dreams.

It's a great song, but it includes one of Bruce's most enigmatic lines: "Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is it something worse?" I've never been able to figure that one out! :Shrug:

Bruce actually dedicated this song to his sister and her husband when he performed it at the 1979 "No Nukes" benefit concert in NYC. The performance was featured in the movie "No Nukes". It's also on Bruce's DVD video anthology, along with two more songs ("Thunder Road" and "Quarter to Three") from the No Nukes show.

[ZannaPerry]

thank you so much for explaining this better. I really like the song and wanted to know more about it. THANK YOU!

[Vito]

thank you so much for explaining this better. I really like the song and wanted to know more about it. THANK YOU!

You're welcome, Suzy. I bought the "River" album when it came out in 1980, and I've been a Springsteen fan ever since. Can't wait until his new album is released next month!

[Severian]

New album? What new album? Another one? As in, post-"Magic"?

[Vito]

New album? What new album? Another one? As in, post-"Magic"?

Yes, another one! Bruce's new album, titled "Working On A Dream", will be released on January 27, 2009. It's an E Street Band album, not one of Bruce's solo projects. Bruce and the band will perform at the Super Bowl halftime show a few days after the album comes out, and hopefully tour dates will soon be announced.

I don't enjoy Bruce's recent work as much as his classic 1970s and 1980s music, but he's still an absolutely amazing live performer. I attended a few shows on his recent "Magic" tour and I was completely blown away -- they were some of the best Springsteen shows I've ever seen.