Released in 1971 and produced by Reprise records, river is an intensely emotional contemporary folk song about heartbreak. Written solely by Joni Mitchell for her album ‘Blue’ the song is reminiscent of Christmas time although lyrically it has little relationship to Christmas. (Hopper, 2012)
Instead of using a typical verse/chorus style this song is written using different sections – A/B/C etc. The line ‘I wish I had a river’ is the overlying focus point throughout the song and is used throughout. Employing an easily recognizable common time, the song although played at a slow to medium tempo sounds as though it is moving faster due to the ornate piano part. Using the key of C major allows a free flowing melody…show more content… Through using a C bass with an Fmajor chord and then moving to C major only the 3rd and 5th of the chord need to be changed, henceforth creating an easier chord progression to follow. As this is a folk song the catchy melody plays a very important role in the songs success. Through the use of disjunct melody in section A we can hear the elements of the unstable folk sound.
Moving through into section B and C the melody becomes more conjunct and follows a predictable ebb and flow of lows and highs. This predictable melody is necessary later in the song to capture the audience and aid memorability.
The melody has been constructed so that each vocal phrase begins on a note from the chord being played. This works effectively to
