"River Man" is the second listed song from Nick Drake's 1969 album Five Leaves Left. According to Drake's manager, Joe Boyd, Drake thought of the song as the centrepiece of the album. In 2004, the song was remastered and released as a 7" vinyl and as enhanced CD single, including a music video by Tim Pope.

"River Man"
Single by Nick Drake
from the album Five Leaves Left
B-side"Day is Done"
Released13 September 2004
Recorded1969
GenreFolk baroque, baroque pop
Length4:21
LabelIsland (UK), Elektra (US)
Songwriter(s)Nick Drake
Producer(s)Robert Kirby and Joe Boyd
Nick Drake singles chronology
"'Magic'"
(2004)
"River Man"
(2004)

Musical structure and lyrics

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The song is in a 5/4 time signature and is one of the few songs Drake wrote to be played in standard tuning. The string arrangement was composed by Harry Robertson (aka Harry Robinson) after Drake's friend Robert Kirby felt he couldn't compose it alone, although he did most of the arrangements on Five Leaves Left.[1]

Drake did not reveal the identity of the 'Betty' character in the lyrics, although Trevor Dann speculated that she may have been drawn from Betty Foy, a character in Wordsworth's "The Idiot Boy", a poem Drake had studied while attending Cambridge.[2] However, the only similarity to the poem is the existence of a Betty.[3]

Covers

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The song has been covered numerous times.

Track listing

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2004 CD
  1. "River Man"
  2. "Day Is Done" (by Norah Jones and the Charlie Hunter Band)
  3. "River Man" (video by Tim Pope)
2004 7"
  1. "River Man"
  2. "River Man" (demo version)

References

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  1. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Five Leaves Left". Allmusic. Retrieved on 19 September 2006.
  2. ^ Dann, Trevor. Darker than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake (2006), (Hardback) Portrait. ISBN 0-7499-5095-1
  3. ^ A Tentative, Yet Serendipitous Discovery Upon Reading Wordsworth by Donnah Boyce
  4. ^ Bill Pearis (2020-08-07). "Robyn Hitchcock covers Nick Drake, Pink Floyd on new rarities album for Bandcamp Friday". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  5. ^ Darryl Sterdan (2020-08-07). "Reviews: Robyn Hitchcock, The Man Downstairs: Demos & Rarities". Tinnitist. Retrieved 2020-08-10.