River

River

Author: BBC Radio 4 December 19, 2018 Duration: 27:49

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.


There’s a certain piece of music that, when you hear it, seems to stop time. It might be a melody from your childhood, a song that played at a pivotal moment, or a composition that simply reaches into your chest and grips your heart. Soul Music, from BBC Radio 4, is built around that very phenomenon. This isn’t a program about genres or charts; it’s an intimate exploration of why specific pieces of music carry such profound emotional weight. Each episode focuses on a single, iconic work-from classical adagios to folk ballads, from film scores to pop anthems. The podcast weaves together the voices of people whose lives have been indelibly marked by that music: listeners share personal, often moving stories of grief, joy, love, and remembrance, while composers and performers might shed light on the piece’s creation. You’ll hear the music itself, of course, but framed in a way that reveals its deeper resonance in human experience. It’s a quiet, thoughtful series that reminds us how soundtracks our inner lives. Tuning into this podcast feels like being part of a conversation about the invisible threads that connect us all through notes and rhythms, exploring how a sequence of sounds can become a vessel for collective memory and feeling.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Soul Music
Podcast Episodes
True Colors [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:52
"Your true colors...are beautiful, like a rainbow..."Billy Steinberg's lyrics were originally inspired by his mother but his song writing partner Tom Kelly recognised its universal appeal. With a slight re-write, it beca…
God Only Knows [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:28
"God only knows what I'd be without you"For artist Kim Lynch God Only Knows is a song that she has carried with her from the moment her father played it to her mother back in their 1960's London home and it's the song th…
Prelude a l'Apres Midi d'un Faune by Debussy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:33
Claude Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun speaks to artists of different kinds. Jamaican poet Ishion Hutchinson recalls hearing it through an open window in Kingston Jamaica and being mesmerised by its beauty,…
A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:44
Why has Procol Harum's surreal track ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ remained enduringly popular for over 50 years? Soul Music hears the stories and memories of those who love it. Released in May 1967, it was the group's first…
Songs of the Civil Rights Movement [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:46
Actor Clarke Peters narrates this special edition to mark 50 years since the assassination of the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King on April 4th 1968. "If in doubt, pray and sing" an activist recalls how music was used as p…
Cerys Matthews' Soul Music Mixtape - Part One [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:53
Cerys Matthews delves into the archives to put together a specially curated mixtape of her favourite stories from across 25 series of the BBC Radio 4's Soul Music.Each episode of Soul Music takes a different piece of mus…
Cerys Matthews' Soul Music Mixtape - Part Two [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:38
Cerys Matthews delves into the archives to put together a specially curated mixtape of her favourite stories from across 25 series of the BBC Radio 4's Soul Music.Each episode of Soul Music takes a different piece of mus…
Cerys Matthews' Soul Music Mixtape - Part Three [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:34
Cerys Matthews delves into the archives to put together a specially curated mixtape of her favourite stories from across 25 series of the BBC Radio 4's Soul Music.Each episode of Soul Music takes a different piece of mus…
Kraftwerk: Computer World [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:44
How Kraftwerk's classic album Computer World has changed people's lives. On their first wedding anniversary, David Sanborn and Jennifer Huber remember their Kraftwerk themed celebrations. Ramona Gonzales from the band Ni…
Boys Don't Cry [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:52
Boys Don't Cry by The Cure is, on the surface, a tribute to teenage angst and a slice of pop perfection. Lol Tolhurst, the band's drummer, wrote the song with his band mates in Robert Smith's parents' house extension.Poo…