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Soul Music: Series 27: River

River

Series 27

BBC Radio 4 - Soul Music, Series 27, River

Personal stories of Joni Mitchell's song 'River', from her 1971 album Blue.

How Joni Mitchell's song 'River', from her iconic 1971 album Blue, continues to inspire people. With Rob Crossan. From 2018.

Soul Music with stories of the lasting impact of Joni Mitchell's song 'River', from her iconic 1971 album Blue. 

A song about the breakdown of a relationship and of a longing to be elsewhere that has become a melancholy Christmas anthem. 

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....

Emotional true stories of what the song means to different people, including:

*  Comedian Chris Forbes, who lost his father on Christmas Day
*  Isobel, who fell sick far from home and understands the longing to be elsewhere captured in the song
*  Laura, who heard the song while pregnant at Christmastime
*  Writer Rob Crossan, who will forever associate the song with his first love
*  Canadian poet Lorna Crozier who describes the frozen rivers of her and Joni's Saskatchewan childhood

Plus thoughts from Joni Mitchell's biographer, David Yaffe. 

Includes a rare live recording of 'River' from a BBC Concert in 1970, hosted by John Peel.  

The other versions of the song are by (in order of appearance):

Joni Mitchell (Blue, 1971)
Scott Matthews (Live Session for BBC 6 Music, 2011)
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones (Jingle All the Way, 2008)
The Belgian indie choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers (Live Session for BBC 6 Music, 2011).

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Mair Bosworth

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.

Soul Music: Series 27

BBC Radio 4

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River

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