I met my Wife Liz when I was 14 years old and I would visit her and hang out in her room and listen to music and she would always play Joni Mitchell and this was her favorite song My Liz has passed away now and I miss her very very much Thanks for putting this live song on for all of us to enjoy,
met my hubby of 47 years as a 13 year old.... We'd walk through a local reservoir and love it up in sun shine on a cold winters day.... Miss him like mad..... This song.....
I'm glad you met Joni. I have been listening to her for over thirty years. She has been the only woman who ever understood me even though I've never met her and probably never will. She has been the woman who I have measured every other woman against.
This song is pure genius, so delicate, yet strong, with a gentle melancholy. It moved me enormously when I first heard it years ago & still does now....how many of us identify with the lyrics ? I know I do......thank you for posting.
This song is as beautiful today as it was when Joni first recorded it. Joni Mitchell is a genius of a singer/songwriter. If this song doesn't touch you somewhere in your soul, then you are not alive. Her music is a true reflection of life itself. She is a treasure.
Beautiful! Though I've listened to this song on an album for over 40 years, I loved hearing this little different rendition, where she ad libs with in different ways. Her voice is one I never tire of.
In 1963 I was at school in the English Lake District and the whole school skated across Lake Windermere. Whenever I go skating now I think of this song. Few songs can take me back like this one does - where did all those years go? What a beautiful singer - Joni Mitchell, the patron saint of nostalgia!
I l love all music and am new to joni. I've known of her my whole life, but when I heard the vocals on this song it brought MY house down. Wow. Left me breathless and shaking.
I had to sing this for school in choir and it made my music teacher cry! it's very rare to find people say they love Joni Mitchell, I love her songs, very talented woman I wish I had her voice, I would be very happy... this song makes me cry at times... I'm very emotional.
That:s an interesting choice, most of us heard her when we were "growing up" and I have spent many a nights sleep crying and listening to Joni. Hissing of Summer Lawns was my CA. song, and Blue is another fav, thanks for the answer to my..?
If you're listening to this, Eric and Dee, know that I think of you guys dragging our toboggans when I hear this -- fills my heart with joy -- good times!
The River and Both Sides Now are my favourite of Joni's songs they are timeless and that is why people still love them today and artists want to cover them.
Whichever way you examine this song, whether it be lyrically, musically, emotionally or spritually, it is an incredible piece of music, so deceptively brilliant, so deep, yet so simple...a masterpiece. Thank you for posting this live version...bless you.
the deffinative sound of the 60`s/70`s,even though this is the first time ive listened to joni with out being stoned its still such a beautyfull song lady gaga can sing my arse.
Me virgo with tons of leo thrown in . Bjork..triple scorpio another amazing artist Man I listened to these songs forever when they originally came out and somehow forgot about them ...thanks to you tube for resurecting them..I just re-bought the CD..OMG what talent
I heard this song 1st from Sarah McLachlin which I loved. My Auntie told me Joni lst sang it. So glad I could find her version too. Loved both.Thank you for posting this.
in this version she adds the word "sometimes" I'm selfish....she goes a bit easier on herself. It's a gorgeous, profoundly sad song, heartbreaking. What an artist Joni Mitchell is! There have been some good cover versions of this song, Dave Van Ronk did a great one, hard to find.
Heard her interview on NPR this morning. Hadn't know she wrote this in context of being hospitalized as a child and unable to walk. Told she could go home "if she could walk". And she did.
Every time I listen to this song it makes me cry and I've been listening to Joni since the 70's... It's a tough life being a hopeless romantic, but it feel so good!
Fantastically beautiful, the song AND the artist. That type of performance comes from a place inside a person that a lot of modern recording artists just don't bother to reach any more.
As a young man in my early twenties, I first heard this after buying the album because I'd seen it referenced as an ifluence by such a diverse range of musical artists...it piqued my curiosity. A year later, I had a new son...I was unmarried, trying to make my way in a new world, totally in love with this new human... It was a very emotional and confusing period. I still have to listen to it now and again to remind me of the grace, beauty and dignity of the song...
There's some real heartbreak behind this song, but also a touching reconciliation. I love that James Taylor plays this song back for Joni and that both of them can look back at this time of their lives peacefully.
this is my first meeting joni mitchell. I was scared because I teach myself to slowly discover the old songwriters and I was disapointed of some of them, but joni is perfect!!!! I´ve fallen in love! thanks for posting this!
Thank you Joni...so nice to have something to resonate with at Christmas besides some of the commercial stuff - this is not commercial....Ms. Mitchell sings from the heart on this one.
Like any any great lyric, this lyric grows older with you as you do the same... Profoundly beautiful. Profoundly sad. And yet, somewhere in the darkness, a comforting hope. Thank you, Joni.
Don't give up. You're so young. You have your whole life to turn it around. You have no idea how messed up I was till my mid-30s!!! And now, 30 years later, my life is really good! Pray for help---you'll get it.
she was quite young when she sang this....the way it is sang here....and anyone who understand that song should be holding a very emotional moment in this ...
It is so beautiful!- and brings me back to my wonderfull days as a young girl with all my friends ice skating and enjoying life. I like to wax philosophically every now and then since I'm moving toward my 60's. She tells a beautiful story and since she is the song writer and poet, no other artist can sing this song, they try but they don't even come close. You just can't stop wanting to hear her. She is contageous.I went to see her in my high school days and she was like no other. Enjoy!!!!
It's coming on Christmas They're cutting down trees And you know they're putting up reindeer And singing songs of joy and peace Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on But it don't snow here It stays pretty green I'm gonna make a lot of money Then I'm gonna quit this crazy scene I wish I had a river I could skate away on I wish I had a river so long And I would teach my feet to fly Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on I made my baby cry Well you know I'm so hard to handle Sometimes I'm selfish and I'm sad Now I've gone and lost the best baby that I ever had Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on He tried hard to help me he put me at ease Lord he loved me so good It made me weak in my knees Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on Oh, I wish I had a river so long I would teach my feet to fly I wish I had a river I could skate away on I made my baby say goodbye It's coming on Christmas They're cutting down trees They're putting up reindeer And singing songs of joy and peace I wish I had a river I could skate away on
Yes, Wade. I'm so sorry for your loss. but winter is indeed a time for contemplation, and reflection, with or without the ice of a northern river to look into. This song evokes that sense of ache better than any other I can think of. The woman is a genius, no doubt.
Oh My God....I literally have tears in my eyes right now. This is the first time Ive heard this and I feel like Ive lost out on alot. Its probably the MOST BEAUTIFUL song ever
Joni is, transcendently, a poet. There is no finer songwriter in this generation. Some are on the same pinnacle: Cohen, Simon, Lennon, McCartney, Dylan- but no one is better.
MademoiselleNobs1973, thank you from the bottom of my heart for this gem. i had never heard this song live and now you've given me this incredibly beautiful treat. much love and peace to you.
I've got an 8yr old daughter who loves this song. Doesn't understand all of it but that doesn't matter. She knows the mood of the piece and it makes her want to write poetry. She scares me. She's bloody fantastic. And when I hear this I think of her.
Often when I hear this song, I wish that one particular person would be listening to this song and feeling badly, because I've cast myself as the "best baby" they'd ever had. That's pretty cruel and unforgiving of me, but it's true.
Ah, Joni, this song makes me cry and weak at the knees. Beautiful, sad, and every word and note is from the heart. I love how she uses her voice to create the sense of motion: "I would teach my feet to flyyyyyyyyyyyy" or on Banquet: "back where the water skiers gliiiiiiiiiiide." Her voice is an instrument. A great, great artist.
When I was ten (1969) my parents divorced, Joni Mitchell got me through it, River was the song that I listened to over and over. My oldest sister gave me the cassette, Blue and I was Home! Thank you Joni for your wonderful poetry in motion from this lonely girl finding her way. I did!
I never heard this song until 3 weeks ago when I heard Hayley Westenra sing it at a Christmas concert. Then, yesterday they played it on 'Doctors'. It's so beautiful. I do love Joni Mitchell's voice.
