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The Documentary: Soul Music: River by Joni Mitchell

River by Joni Mitchell

25/12/2019 GMT

Soul Music

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Soul Music, River by Joni Mitchell

A song about a broken relationship that has become a melancholy Christmas anthem

Stories of Joni Mitchell's River, from her 1971 album Blue. A song about a broken relationship and of a longing to be elsewhere that has become a melancholy Christmas anthem.

Stories of Canadian singer Joni Mitchell's 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.
 
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; and from Joni Mitchell's biographer David Yaffe.

Image: Joni Mitchell, pictured in 1970 (Credit: Roy Jones/Getty Images)

The Documentary: Soul Music

People share stories about music that has changed their lives.

Music brings meaning to our lives. From first breath to last rites music is there, helping us to deal with our emotions and reflect on our experiences. Be it solace or celebration, grief, love, lost youth or contented aging, we find ourselves reflected in the music we love and share. 
 
In Soul Music we take a song and talk to people for whom the song has a special place in their lives.

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