Why Joni’s “River” Became X-Mas Classic
The Wash Post tells us: ‘As it turns out, plenty of artists have been dreaming of a very, very blue Christmas over the last two decades: “River†— originally featured on Mitchell’s melancholy 1971 masterwork, “Blue†— has become a seasonal favorite, despite being “thoroughly depressing,†as Elbow frontman Guy Garvey once noted at a Christmas concert. Or perhaps it’s ascended to holiday-hit status precisely because it’s an antidote to all those “songs of joy and peace.†“We needed a sad Christmas song, didn’t we?†Mitchell said with a chuckle on NPR in 2014. “In the ‘bah humbug’ of it all.â€
