Lyrics for River Man as interpreted by Sweet Blue Way

River Man Lyrics
Betty came by on her way
Said she had a word to say
About things today
And fallen leaves

Said she hadn't heard the news
Hadn't ahd the time to choose
A way to lose
But she believes

Gonna to see the river man
Gonna to tell him all I can
About the plan
For lilac time

If he tells me all he knows
About the way his river flows
And all night shows
In summertime

Betty said she prayed today
For the sky to blow away
Or maybe stay
She wasn't sure

For when she tought of summer rain
Calling for her mind again
She lost the pain
And stayed for more

Gonna see the river man
Gonna to tell him all I can
About the ban
On feeling free

If he tells me all he knows
About the way his river flows
I don't suppose
It's meant for me

Oh, how they come and go

Oh, how they come and go

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  • 26 Comments
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rossx
12-25-2004

Rated -1 
how can no one have commented on this song yet? its fantastic. music like this is amazing. i like a wide range of stuff from emo to heavy metal to classic rock but today i haven't been able to stop listening to nick drake. i think its the christmas season...pisses me off...

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delomo
01-02-2005

Rated +1 
i believe nick is searching for something of more meaning in this song. the river man is perhaps someone who understands more about life. Nick is saying he doesn't believe this higher level of understanding life is for him, he feels that he doesn't deserve it or it's just never going to happen. Any thoughts or comments?

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delomo
01-02-2005

Rated 0 
i believe nick is searching for something of more meaning in this song. the river man is perhaps someone who understands more about life. Nick is saying he doesn't believe this higher level of understanding life is for him, he feels that he doesn't deserve it or it's just never going to happen. Any thoughts or comments?

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lost_in_twlight
04-06-2005

Rated 0 
gorgeous song, and rossx another person you might like is Elliott Smith, if you're not already into him. anyway his music is like Nick's only more eerie and some are a little more pissy.both amazing musicians, why do all the good ones commit suicide?

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Phrogex
05-14-2005

Rated -1 
I can't believe there are only 4 comments on this wonderful song. It's up there with Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" and "Things Behind the Sun." BEAUTIFUL song!!!

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bladet
05-19-2005

Rated 0 
This song reminds me of the film Easy Rider. Especially the last shot with the river extending to the horizon and Ballad of Easy Rider being played. The part about the ban on feeling free seems to be related to the theme of the movie too. What do you think?

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jimmy737
07-20-2005

Rated 0 
I think part of the reason why this song remains so timeless is that we don't know what it is about. And do we want to know? For me the haunting sound of this song; and the Nick Drake's eerie tone as he sings of the 'River Man', is enough to make this the truely incredible song it is. The song is mysterious, vague and unclear, much like Nick Drake. A remarkable song, brilliant!

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rockisgroovy
01-30-2006

Rated 0 
it really is such a shame he killed himself. (though his parents saying it was an accidently overdose) the music is so beautiful in this song, the violins, and the simple acoustic guitar.

his music will always make me so excited

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bakismaki
04-27-2006

Rated 0 
There's such a dark, mlancholic, almost creepy feel to his music and this song is the perfect example of it. It is hauntingly beautiful, it brings goosebumps to my arms. I think it's about death. Knowing your going to die soon.

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rubyoverdiamonds
05-16-2006

Rated 0 
One of the choice picks from an underrated genius. He barely sold 3,000 copies of his albums in his lifetime, and after his death, he's now sold in excess of 500,000. It's just a pity he didn't live to see it. Fantastic song.

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Guffle
05-21-2006

Rated +1 
Fairly sure he's referring to a lost love. The third stanza intrigued me, so i went and did some research. Das Dreimäderlhaus, an opera with music composed by Franz Schubert, about the composers life, debuting way back in 1916, was later rewritten for UK audiences and renamed 'Lilac time.' "Schubert writes a beautiful love song to his beloved Mitzi. But he gets his best friend Baron Schober to sing it to her, and she falls in love with him instead of poor Franz, who has to find consolation in their happiness - and in his music." How Nick Drake is that? Similar in tone to Hanging on a Star, the theme of unrequited love comes up fairly often in Drake's music. Betty comes by to talk of 'fallen leaves', lost opportunites, past actions that can't be recounted. Fallen leaves could also refer to Autumn, he then goes on to write about summer in a more nostalgic sense. The riverman could obviously refer to the passage of time. I think he's writing about a love that has been lost somewhere between summer and autumn. "Oh how they come and go." Beautiful song.

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*jasper*
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
good work guffle

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quietwar
07-22-2006

Rated 0 
to me personally this song is about an unstable girl who has some type of relationship with the narrator who needs help knowing what to do. the river man i think of as almost prophet-like because he'd have to be a traveler of somesort and it would definately symbolyze a higher spiritual knowledge guru.

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flex.
08-14-2006

Rated 0 
such a gorgeous song. nick's telling us a tale, interweaving his haunting and mythical chant with the subdued confidence of a young and misunderstood artist fighting to break free.

for me, this song may be Drake at his artistic apex.

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ate_tracks
09-13-2006

Rated 0 
ive listened tot his song 5 times in a row now and can't stop.. it just doesn't get old.

i've always been into orchestrated music and maybe that's why.. just putting together two music types that i really love. a musician that has respect for instruments like violins and celli doesn't come around that often.

yea but i have no idea what this song is about.. it makes me feel sad.. kinda puts a lump in my throat you know? i'm really in love with it though.

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Leroyskagnetti
11-02-2006

Rated +1 
I guess I can't be sure, but to me it makes a lot of sense that this song is about death or Thanatos or dwelling on mortality... River Man is the legendary guide on the River Styx who carries souls who have just entered the underworld into Hades.


It's pretty eerie coming from Nick Drake when you know that he did, in fact, kill himself, and you consider that this song may have been written during a time of rumination about where his own soul would go after death.


Gonna see the river man
Gonna to tell him all I can
About the ban
On feeling free



"the ban on feeling free"? well, everyone would commit suicide if we thought it was OK - if it wasn't sinful, or if our soul would simply melt away into heaven, right?

It's like the famous Shakespearean soliloquay about "To Be or Not To Be," where Hamlet considers suicide if it weren't for the mystery of "What dreams may come" - what follows death? and could it be worse than life?

Perhaps also borrowed from Shakespeare is this idea of "lilac time," which sounds like a reference to Ophelia, who killed herself in a fit of madness.


If he tells me all he knows
About the way his river flows
I don't suppose
It's meant for me


I dunno if this was indeed a specific intent of the song, but it runs chills down my spine. I listen to this song and think of my own mortality. Ironic, too, about the song, is that it is so beautiful and light, like his syrupy voice, that you can't even be sure it does exist :).

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celery
11-06-2006

Rated 0 
Nick Drake tunes are something akin to a delicate flower. Such rare and ethereal melodic grace is hard to come by these days. It's a pity he only recorded three full albums during his short life.

Every time I listen to River Man I'm reminded of the approach of autumn. Full of mysterious melancholy, this is one of Drake's best in my opinion. Who is this Betty speaking of fallen leaves? A spectral haunting of beguiling beauty? A wayfaring soul, lost to the world? What of "the plan for lilac time"?

What do you think the river man has to say? That's the beauty of it I suppose; it can be many different things to many people..."Oh, how they come and go..."

PS: Guffle's Schubert connection makes sense; relating well to the ripening Eros, and the autumnal feel of the song. In the end though, as Leroyskagnetti points out, it seems that the overpowering sense of Thanatos wins out.

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JibbaJabba84
12-04-2006

Rated 0 
I read Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha before I heard this song and I'm always reminded of the river man in the story. Great book, great song.

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Azuriell
03-19-2007

Rated 0 
This song is based on the book. :)
Or was it a poem. O_o

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alicet
08-29-2008

Rated 0 
This song's meaning is more of isolation than anything.

He's more the observer than listener.
And this life wasn't meant for him.
He couldnt bare people.
The fusteration in wanting to perform but litteraly not being able to stand being around the people... I believe that and of course the poem lead to this song.

The river man being more like his soul.

Idkk......

I feel like him and I feel-- well felt the same.
If you look him up you'd see he dealt with anxiety, fear and depression.
Could barely do shows.
But yet he wanted to perform.

idk

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seeker24
11-10-2008

Rated 0 
Obviously Nick was smart and knew a lot about literature. I think Guffle and Leroyskagnetti were leading to something...

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krtman
01-28-2009

Rated 0 
Very meaningful song to me. Here is how I see it:

Betty came by on her way
Said she had a word to say
About things today
And fallen leaves

Said she hadn't heard the news
Hadn't ahd the time to choose
A way to lose
But she believes

"Betty is a representation of Nick, depressed, and feels cheated by how painful life is, and believes that what ever direction one goes, its going to be painful"


Gonna to see the river man
Gonna to tell him all I can
About the plan
For lilac time

"The River Man is God, and Nick wants to tell him that life should be good, not painful"

Betty said she prayed today
For the sky to blow away
Or maybe stay
She wasn't sure

For when she tought of summer rain
Calling for her mind again
She lost the pain
And stayed for more

"She is ready to commit suicide, but is uncertain, then she becomes aware of one of those small, beautiful things in life, and it gives her temporary hope"

Gonna see the river man
Gonna to tell him all I can
About the ban
On feeling free

"Again, telling God that it isn't fair that life is so hard"

If he tells me all he knows
About the way his river flows
I don't suppose
It's meant for me

"But it wouldn't be right if God tells him the true meaning of life"



Such as sad, sad song, makes me cry every time I hear it.

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createspace
03-16-2009

Rated 0 
To me this song is about becoming a successful musician or rather more genearlly pursuing your dreams and how whether you're successful is out of your hands.

"Betty came by on her way
said she had a word to say
about things today"

Muscians have something to say about things today, that's why some people want the fame that comes with being a musician.

"Said she hadn't heard the news
Hadn't ahd the time to choose
A way to lose
But she believes"

This bit gives an indication that she hasn't always been aware of her possible fame (time to choose) not being aware is a way to lose but she believes and that's why she's here to see the riverman because she believes.

"Gonna to see the river man
Gonna to tell him all I can
About the plan
For lilac time"

In order to forfill your dreams you have to see the riverman and are at the mercy of his judgement. You need to tell him all you can, about the plan for lilac time.

"If he tells me all he knows
About the way his river flows
And all night shows
In summertime"

The riverman has a river, think of it as a path into success, fame in music. The bit "And all night shows, in the summertime" indicates that this song is indeed about music and success.

"Betty said she prayed today
For the sky to blow away
Or maybe stay
She wasn't sure"

Betty has great belief, she prays for things to change - the sky to blow away, or maybe stay, she's not sure. She's not sure because a musical career is about the most uncertain venture you can go on. There's no guarantee of success and this causes a lot of doubt and indecison, but she beleives.


The lure of this music career etc is always there "For when she tought of 'summer rain'
Calling for her mind again, She lost the pain, And stayed for more"

She loses the pain and stays for more because of this calling, the pull is very strong. It may seem irrational but it's right.

"Gonna see the river man
Gonna tell him all I can
About the ban
On feeling free"

This is obviously a sign of frustration. Gonna tell the riverman about the way life constrains ones choices. I want to be free, I want to pursue a musical career, but it seems irrational. Instead I'll do the mundane things in life, crap job etc. In this sense the awareness of the possibility of musical success, and how impossible it seems to pursue it gives the impression there is a ban on feeling free because as long as this situation continues one does not feel free to pursue their dreams.

"If he tells me all he knows
About the way his river flows
I don't suppose
It's meant for me"

This verse again indicates that whether you realise your dreams or not is up to the riverman not you, although you need to see the riverman, you need to believe if you're gonna reliase your dreams. Not everyone will be successful, not everyone is talented enough, not everyone has enough belief.

The last verse reinforces this.

"Oh, how they come and go

Oh, how they come and go"

Clearly lots of people want to realise their dreams and hence come and see the riverman but a lot of them just come and go. However, you will never know whether the river is meant for you if you don't go and see the riverman.


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TheThornBirds
04-18-2009

Rated 0 
The line about praying for the sky to blow away (or maybe stay) is very fascinating to me.
I always imagine a sort of suicidal woman who still has hope, but is faithless.
She has no faith that things will work out. She thinks everything will go badly. (prayed for the sky to blow away)
But she still holds onto the hope that something might happen that will change her life for the better. (or maybe stay)

The next line really spells out plainly what the previous line only vaguely infers: her suicidal tendencies laid aside due to momentary hopeful moments...

"For when she thought of summer rain
Calling for her mind again
She lost the pain
And stayed for more"

The last line in that stanza "And stayed for more" is particularly haunting.

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kaat
06-23-2009

Rated 0 
Suggestion for next track on playlist: Ralph McTell's "The Ferryman" :)

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