Added: 3 years ago
From: blackkendoll82
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  • Gitchigoo, you've got a point. It ain't that bad. : )

  • I think Mitchell wrote this song partly in reference to her baby girl she gave up for adoption when she was a very young womman.

  • I have a river and love it.

  • such a great song. sounds like christmas :)

  • always loved this song! another good one like it is "This Time of YEar" by Blair Reinhard.

  • every time i listen to this song i cry.

  • Adored this song I play it a lot it is my favourite gbirthday song I was born on christmas day yeah love you joni thanks for sharing agin i can't get tired of it !

  • its not christmas without this song...

  • piękny głos

  • God I am so lonely....

  • Keep sharing this is the key love always

  • "Blue" is high art.Work of this caliber is so rare.Every song a diamond.

  • I just can't stop listening to this song.

  • &fmt=18

    stereo

  • I'm listening to this on Christmas Day. More than anyone, this fabulous woman captured my deepest emotions and put them into gorgeous images. Words fail me when it comes to a talent such as this; she will surely go down in history as one of the greatest poet/singer/songwriters of all time.

  • I have no doubt of this. She's a gift, and we're fortunate to live in her time.

  • I am a 65 year old Hoodrat and i like my hard-core jazz and other assorted obcure hits but i too am in awe of Joni Mitchell a true "Goddess of the Arts"!

    I like what you had to say about Joni....."she's a gift, and we're fortunate to live in her time"!

  • You said it. Hope you had a great Christmas!

    Peace

  • she just sings poetery. you know how some songs just get to you. especially this time of year.

  • I love this song so much. My sister and i performed this at our school talent show. Please watch it! watch?v=g_Pgl6k0FE4&feature=ch­annel_page

  • Brilliant...!

  • loved me so naughty made me weak in the knees

  • Yeah, i agree with so many others here that BLUE is an iconic recording - back when artists concerned themselves with making albums filled with good songs. "River" is heartbreakingly sad and impossibly gorgeous, too. joni mitchell's talent takes my breath away...

  • Best christmas song ever.

  • I love this Christmas song so much, maybe more than the cool beans of the jazzy songs I also love. Melancholy is always welcome.

  • Thank you for letting it ring out to the end, nice download!

    What a sweet melancholy.

  • I lost the best baby that I ever had......

  • Amazing Christmas song.

  • luv's it, thanks merry christmas

  • I miss my son, Julian....

  • This has been one of my favourite Christmas songs since I was little. Her version is absolutely beautiful.

    Even though it is a sad Christmas song, sometimes the holidays hold sad memories for people. My family went through a hard time 4 years ago at Christmas, and like this song, I wish I could have just escaped from it all, get away and not even have to deal with it all.

    It's a beautiful soing

  • I hope you had a happy christmas this year michael.

  • pssst. This isn't a Christmas song.

    It just has the jingle bells tune. Its about losing someone you love AROUND Christmas time.

  • very true, but the holidays are famous for intensifying feelings of loneliness and loss. Joni knew this and used it masterfully.

  • Hard argument to make when the 4th word is Christmas.

    By this measure, Blue Christmas or I'll be home for Christmas aren't Christmas songs either.

  • Simply the greatest Female vocalist of our her ere . . . or of any era for thet matter . . . beauty in sonic form

  • This is my favourite Christmas song.

  • Perhaps the best 'modern' Christmas song ever written... Joni's lyrics are nothing short of understated beauty. They seem to mean more and more with each passing year.

    I dearly LUV it....

  • One Of My Fav Songs Ever =)

  • silver dagger by joan baez, proving once again women can hit that note. buffaloo44

  • that's a hell of note she hits: the one about flying buffaloo44

  • amazing !!!

    xx:D

    i <3 joni mitchel ! :D

  • It's just so wonderful as it encapsulates the pain associate with loss. There is nothing like the awful feeling associated with what is and what we want it to rather be. Depending on what it is we mourn, the pain lessens but it never goes away. Thank goodness it does fade from our daily consciousness. Peace and love to all who at this time of the year have to deal with the pain of loss.

  • Magical music - so clean & fresh after all these years - I think everyone has a memory about this song - mine is chucking a bird at Christmas - we had been listening to this over Christmas & then the words 'lost the best baby I ever had' meant something to me weeks later - by then there was no going back!

  • Does this song make anyone else cry besides me?

  • hand raised

  • Yes, me too, but because as I listen to the words, it reminds me of the first time I heard it, Nov, 2006 a month after my husband lost his battle with cancer at only 48.....this is the 3rd Xmas without him, still as unbearable as the first, and now I've moved from NY to Fla. with our daughter....stays pretty green here too....would give anything to be in the snow with him againin NY..........

  • Loved this album for many, many years.

  • Thanks for putting this on - amazing 'non stereotpyical' Christmas song. Bless you Joni Mitchell x

  • This song reminds me of all that is good about this time of the season and helps me let go of the worries I hold onto during the stressful christmas season. Love you Joni!

  • Absolutely wonderful! 5*****!

  • i love this song! my sister and i performed it at our school's talent show. please watch it watch?v=g_Pgl6k0FE4

  • merry christmas everyone... where is that kevorkian dude?

  • lol

  • thanks...

  • Joni is the female Don Henley...without the anger and 'edge' so much. Both extraordinary crafters of lyrics as well as perfomers who successfully get across what they've been writing about. This is one memorable piece.

  • Don Henley is a great songwriter- not just good. Great. But I think Don would freely admit that Joni is on a plane rarely attained by anyone, regardless of gender. Possible contenders: Paul simon. Leonard Cohen. Lennon/McCartney. Short list. But Desperado and a handful of others are sublime, absolutely no doubt.

  • Different strokes, my friend. Joni sings the whole human experience, a lot of which is difficult. Want happy? American Idle starts here again soon. Lot of pep, no thought, no depth, just like the vast majority of today's American music.

  • deck your halls with rusty dildoes

  • the world would probably be a better place without you, but i guess you have a right to live and breathe.

  • that comment, directed to only mitcheltonmilo, was ill advised. I apologize. the thread is allegedly directed to comments about "River" and joni mitchell. I found his remark deeply offensive, but I didn't help matters by diving into the same septic tank. Mea culpa. thanks for letting me breathe.

  • this brings me to my knees

    there is something in her voice which captivates

  • This song always makes me cry...and i love it...

  • Exactly the song I was looking for at this time of the year. Thanks.

  • Me. Too.

  • I guess we all have our own opinions on Joni...she isn't my cup of tea. Whatever rocks your boat.

  • Ah, Joni, thank you for giving us your music and soul.

    Wouldn't everybody love to just skate away, sometimes, down that river.....

  • What a hauntingly beautiful song, a very nice change from the sappy peace-love-joy Christmas songs. Especially for those of us that aren't feeling full of holiday cheer.

  • Different strokes, my friend. Joni sings the whole human experience, a lot of which is difficult. Want happy? American Idle starts here again soon. Lot of pep, no thought, no depth, just like the vast majority of today's American music.

  • given your reasoning, maybe it's you should be depressed.

    joni rocks as few did or can imo.

  • thats not always a bad thing, its that which inspires some of our greatest and most meaningful songs.

  • 2:28 :)

  • who sings the original is it her?

  • yes, it's Joni. writing, singing, playing the piano, or the guitar, or the dulcimer, with complete mastery. the she weaves a melancholy-chorded Jingle Bells just sets of the poignancy of the rest of the song perfectly. there aren't many perfect songs. this is one.

  • ah the version we usualy hear in the radio is the Sarah Mc Lachlan version of river which i also like and is the mostly played in the radio i heard it also at the casino in las vegas

  • This is Music!! Like the short "JingleBell" sound in the end of the piano.

  • I'm so glad to find this on youtube...

    I really needed to hear it right now.

    Thanks

  • the holidays are famous for longing, as well as joy. I know of no song that captures this duality as well as River. The woman is one of a handful of no-doubt genius musicians of the twentieth century.

  • well happy christmas everybody

  • wow......

  • as hauntingly, deeply gorgeous as any song I've heard by anyone, ever.

  • the most beautiful song. ever.

  • C'est une de mes chansons préféré de noël , je l'aime trop!

  • Celine Dion, Shania Twain... Canada we forgive you: you gave us joni!

  • They also gave us Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, The Band... and others I'm sure I forget at the moment. But it does take a lot to atone for Celine Dion...

  • Yeah, you tell em!

  • Don't forget Avril Lavigne xDD

  • oh my. I block her out of my consciousness, Avril of The Perpetual Whine. She's the Un-Joni, just one tedious piss and moan session after another, with no melodic sense, turgid lyrics, and an attitude of unrelenting entitlement and self pity.

  • Agreed.

    And that's an appropriate name: She'll now forever be "Avril of The Perpetual Whine".

    Have a wonderful Christmas, slownoman.

  • What a sad, sad song. But so amazing.

  • ive heard a lot of versions of this song now and not having any nostaglic bias towards this version, i would still say this is by far the best. Many people say it's not the the saddest, but she sings it with so much raw emotion, it's difficult for anyone to match it.

  • I wish I could have heard Karen & Richard Carpenter do this song,,THAT would really have been awesome!

  • i luv this version, not as sad as other peoples versions, wish i had a river to skate away on!

  • does anyone have a video of her performing it live?

  • this is my favorite joni mitchell song!

  • my god, she slays me. no one can write or sing about lost love the way joni mitchell does. this and "amelia" capture all the regret, hurt and longing you feel at the end of a relationship.

  • I agree! She is a treasure.

  • Well put. This song brings me to tears.

    Thank you dad, for allowing me to be raised on such truly talented artists. Her music is mesmerizing.

  • It's no exaggeration to say that Joni Mitchell's BLUE is one of the finest albums I've ever heard in my life.

  • i love this song.

    Although it reminds me of my ex cos this song made him cry and it takes a lot to make him cry.

    I miss him so much.

  • chin up Xx

  • This song kills me every time.

  • great great great lloyd

  • I never worked out what this song is all about but it always made my heart melt nonetheless.

  • there is more real emotion in this song than a thousand others put together...

  • Joni. I love you. I love the way you make me feel.

    With each passing season of golden leaves and winter trees, songs like this and so many others of your's etch and burn themselves into my soul.

  • this song always brings me to tears, especially when the first snow comes along :(

  • Like a force of nature, delicate but so real.......

  • My wife left me 6mths ago..."Blue" was her all time favourite album,I don't love her anymore,I love Joni.lol. 5,000,000*

  • I love joni she's so soulful and perfect for when you are feeling just a little meloncoholy. Hope that you are over the break up - it's difficult - I know

  • this song never seems to fail to give me chills.

  • make that two of us.......

  • One of my all-time favorite songs..Thank you.

  • john playing it again xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  • thanks john my love.xxxx

  • This is for you my Mary my sweet...

  • love joni, beautiful voice and a beautiful person! x

  • nobody does what she does better...most people take a while to "warm up" to her at first listen but if you listen to her when you are alone/uninterrupted you'll become a fan for sure. Blue and For the roses are my fave albums by Joni.

  • Wow; one of my favorites song!!!

    I wish I had a river so wide

    teach my feet to fly

    I wish I had a river to skate away on...

    You tried to help me and you put me at ease

    then loved me so naughty made me weak in my knees

    I wish I had a river I could skate away on

    I´m so hard to handle I´m selfish and I´n sad

    Now I lost the best baby that I ever had

    I wish I had a river I could skate on...

  • Amazing... Thanks!

  • I wish I had a river or anything else I could ...blame it all on.....

  • Joni is one of the living legends alive! She's a genius but at the same time there's human in her artistic creations.

  • Love it!

  • sounds somewhat similair to butterfly kisses

  • this song reminds me of my best friend who died of HIV in 1993

  • I never really liked this song till I was in my 30sm then it all made sense...it is one of the best

  • A definitive for my top ten songs of all time,as well as little green,what a voice ,powerful ,soft emotional . Thank god for all the pop crap of the seventies that lead me to Joni and in particular "Blue" posibly the best album ever??,Janis Ian and my all time favourite Harry Chapin all great singer songwriters,songs with stories .

    Keep up the good work blackendoll 82.

  • ohh wow......powerful message....and thanks

  • Wow! What a voice, what beautiful words, and sang with such feeling - you'd have to be made of stone not to be moved by this! Outstanding!!!

    Thanks for posting, blackkendoll82

  • yesss and no prob

  • It´coming on Christmas they´re cutting down trees Putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace 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 because I made my baby cry You tried hard to help me and you put me at ease Then loved me so naughty made me week in my knees I wish I had a river I could skate away on.... Superb song
  • Wow, i love this song.

    I really cant wait till it's the Christmas

    season. I want the music to be on the radio

    on a daily basis.

  • This song is not about Christmas: it's about lost love. But I agree with you about the music of the season: I love it too. It

    starts right after Thanksgiving, and ends

    12pm Christmas Day; just when you can finally

    unbend and get in the mood.

  • Oh it's so tempting to be cynical in view of all the sycophantic comments...but I don't have the heart. It's such a lovely song.

  • i wish i had a river i could skate aaway on

    effff!

    love this

  • Great song. Angus Stone's cover is probably a bit nicer to listen to though

  • the version on Herbie Hancock's Grammy Album moves me more....

  • takes me back to 1975 with the world in front of me and nothing was impossible...what the hell happened?

  • Its called life ???

    1975 a very good year.

    Be happy.

  • okie dokie

  • yessssssss, SHE has God powering her wings! LOOOOOOVE THE SONG! WHAT A GIFT to us

  • If this song doesn't crack your heart open you must be dead!

  • nice voice and song..robert downey sing this song too..<33333

  • Falling out of love with Joni isn't happening.

  • She's an angel.

  • A lovely and touching song...Joni's amazing talent. Linda Ronstadt sang this on a Christman album she put out...beautiful also. I love the song. MMJ

  • I'm so hard to handle, I'm selfish and I'm sad, Now I've gone and lost the best baby that I ever had, I wish I had a river I could skate away on

    Still as cutting as ever, this song is absolute perfection. Thank you so much for posting

  • yes it is.......ohh no probbbbb no prob

  • I'm selfish and I'm sad, I wish I had a river I could skate away on.

  • thanks :)

  • so beautiful

  • i love it i love it

  • i think amazing grace is a terrible song !!!

  • why u make that random comment?..lol

  • Hahaha because the guy underneath me said 'Even amazing grace cant make me cry.'

  • ohh lol

  • This song always makes me cry. Even Amazing Grace can't make me cry.

  • Wonderful voice.

  • Joni Mitchell is the best female singer/songwriter of our time. It's a shame her work is not embraced as it should be these days.

  • This music should not be "embraced." Don't jump on me about this, but this type of music is incredbily unhealthy to get wrapped up in. So many of us in the 70's were listening to Joni, Neil Young, etc., and we were revelling in the depression that the music brought with it. The world is NOT gloomy, sad, horrible, and hopelessly unjust. Enjoy the music, but don't become it. Don't embrace it, unless you want to end up "cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark cafe," like Joni.

  • How Could you be so mean! that so... not nice of you to say abvout Joni Mitchell!!!!!!!!!!!!11

  • "What is a poet? An unhappy man who hides deep anguish in his heart, but whose lips are so formed that when the sigh and cry pass through them, it sounds like lovely music.... And people flock around the poet and say: 'Sing again soon' - that is, 'May new sufferings torment your soul but your lips be fashioned as before, for the cry would only frighten us, but the music, that is blissful.'"

    -Kierkegaard