Well, let me tell ya ’bout this song, “Let the River Run.” It ain’t no fancy thing, but it gets ya thinkin’. It’s like, this woman, Carly Simon, she’s talkin’ ’bout a river, ya know, like water flowin’. But it ain’t just ’bout water, it’s ’bout more than that.
What’s this river, anyhow? Some folks say it’s ’bout hope. Like, hopin’ for a better life, a better world. They talk ’bout “new Jerusalem,” which sounds all churchy and stuff. But it’s like, a good place, a place where things are right. They wanna build this place, make it real. Like buildin’ a house, but bigger, ya know?
- It’s ’bout a new beginnin’
- It’s ’bout washin’ away the bad stuff
- It’s ’bout everybody comin’ together
This river, it’s powerful, like a big ol’ truck chargin’ down the road. It can carry ya places, take ya to somethin’ new. It’s like, movin’ on, not stayin’ stuck in the mud. And it ain’t just for one person, it’s for everybody. Sons and daughters, all them folks, they’re all part of it. She keeps sayin’ “Let the river run,” like she’s tellin’ that river, “Go on, do your thing!”
Now, some smarty-pants folks, they say it’s got somethin’ to do with New York City. Like it’s a song for that city, a “hymn” they call it. And it’s got a beat, like somethin’ you’d hear in the jungle, all wild and free. Maybe that’s part of it too. Cities are like rivers, always movin’, always changin’. People comin’ and goin’, just like the water.
But then there’s other songs ’bout rivers, and they ain’t always so happy. There’s this song, “Take Me to the River,” where this fella’s got troubles with his woman. He wants to get “dunked in water,” which sounds kinda fishy if ya ask me. Maybe he just wants to clean up his act, or maybe it’s somethin’ else, somethin’ more…personal, ya know? And then there’s this other fella, crazy as a loon, he meets his woman by the river and shoots her! Lord have mercy! So, rivers can mean different things to different folks.
So, what’s the real meanin’ of “Let the River Run”? Well, I reckon it’s ’bout lettin’ go. Lettin’ go of the bad stuff, the worries, the things that hold ya back. It’s ’bout hopin’ for somethin’ better, somethin’ bigger than yourself. It’s ’bout movin’ forward, like that river, always flowin’, always goin’ somewhere. And it’s ’bout everybody joinin’ in, workin’ together, makin’ that “new Jerusalem” a real thing.
It ain’t always easy, ya know? Sometimes that river gets dammed up, blocked by rocks and dirt. That’s when ya gotta fight, gotta push through, gotta let that river run free again. And sometimes, that river can get outta control, like in that other song, “Hold Back the River.” That fella’s scared, he wants things to slow down, to get back to normal. But sometimes, ya just gotta go with the flow, let that river take ya where it’s gonna take ya.
This Carly Simon, she wrote this song for a movie, “Working Girl.” And it fit that movie just right. The movie’s ’bout a woman tryin’ to make it, tryin’ to get ahead in the big city. She’s got obstacles, she’s got people tryin’ to hold her back. But she keeps goin’, she keeps pushin’, just like that river. And in the end, she makes it, she finds her own “new Jerusalem.” So that song, it’s like her story, it’s like everybody’s story. We’re all just tryin’ to let our own river run, ya know?
It ain’t no fancy words, just plain talk. It’s like when you see a bird flyin’ free, that’s kinda what this song feels like. It’s ‘bout freedom, ‘bout new beginnings, and ‘bout hopin’ for somethin’ good down the road. Don’t need no college degree to understand that, just a heart and a little bit of common sense.