Christmas
After 50 years: “River” by Joni Mitchell gets a video
A broken relationship and loneliness: “River” by Joni Mitchell. Photo: John Shearer / KEYSTONE / AP Invision / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
How does Joni Mitchell imagine “River” in pictures? After five decades there is a music video for the song.
50 years after its release, the Christmas hit “River” by Canadian musician Joni Mitchell (78) got an official music video. The short film, animated in black and white, has now been published on the singer’s YouTube channel.
In the video, the story sung by Mitchell is digitally retraced: the narrator tries to forget painful memories of a past relationship by skating away over a frozen river. Only at the end of the video does the black and white drawing merge into bright colors.
“‘River’ expresses regret about the end of a relationship … but it’s also about being lonely at Christmas time,” said a statement by Mitchell that was faded in at the end of the video. «A Christmas carol for people who are lonely at Christmas! We need a song like this. “
Although “River”, which appeared on Mitchell’s fourth studio album “Blue” in 1971, was not originally released as a Christmas carol, it is often played during the Christmas season. Cover versions of the song appeared on various Christmas albums, including by Ellie Goulding, Katie Melua and Ronan Keating.