“The River” by Josh Ritter (Live Bruce Springsteen cover)
“The River” has got to be one of the saddest songs ever written.
It’s about a boy who falls in love with a girl and they have a super sweet romance. But then she gets pregnant and they get married in a haste - “No wedding day smiles/ No walk down the aisle/ No flowers, no wedding dress.” So now the both of them are stuck in this life that they somehow fell into; hopes, dreams, love and passion all on the back burner - “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true/ Or is it something worse?”.
It’s basically the dramatized story of all our lives. And that’s why the song’s so depressing, because you can somehow relate it back to yourself.
But the Springsteen version has got that weird wild west vibe to it, and the uptempo-ness also doesn’t quite do the story justice. This Josh Ritter version from his 2007 show in Berlin really hits the nail on the head though. It’s a quiet little acoustic number and his falsetto adds that extra cheapshot of heartache.
What I appreciate most about his version is that he sings it like he is telling a story - his story.
