The River of Dreams

This article is about the Billy Joel song. For the album, see River of Dreams. For other uses, see River of Dreams (disambiguation).

"The River of Dreams"
Single by Billy Joel
from the album River of Dreams
B-side"The Great Wall of China"
ReleasedJuly 19, 1993 (1993-07-19)[1]
Genre
Length
  • 4:05 (original version)
  • 5:21 (extended version)
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Billy Joel
Producer(s)
Billy Joel singles chronology
"All Shook Up"
(1992) 		"The River of Dreams"
(1993) 		"No Man's Land"
(1993)
Music video
"The River of Dreams" on YouTube

"The River of Dreams" is a song by American musician Billy Joel. It is the title track and first single from his twelfth album, River of Dreams (1993). It was released in July 1993 by Columbia Records and became a hit, peaking at number three on the US and UK charts, making it Joel's best-charting single of the decade as well as his final top ten in either country to date. It also hit the top spot in Australia, New Zealand, and on the Canadian and US Adult Contemporary charts. The song was produced by Joe Nicolo and Danny Kortchmar. Its accompanying music video was directed by Andy Morahan and filmed in Connecticut, the US.

At least four versions of the song have been recorded and released. Two versions (released years later) include a bridge section containing a piano interlude paralleling Joel's melody from his song "Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)," which is from the same album. These versions can be found on the boxed sets My Lives and Complete Hits Collection: 1973–1999 – but even these versions differ from each other, both in length and in arrangement: one, for instance, has more percussion. A fourth mix appears as a bonus cut on the UK CD single of "River of Dreams" — the "percapella mix" done by Nicolo.

"The River of Dreams" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1994, but lost out to "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston. Joel performed the song at the ceremony, and abruptly stopped in the middle of his performance in order to verbally protest Frank Sinatra's lifetime achievement speech being cut off earlier in the night.[3]

In 1993, Gary Zimmerman, a songwriter from Long Island, New York, attempted to sue Joel for ten million dollars, claiming more than half of "The River of Dreams" was based on his 1986 song "Nowhere Land."[4] Joel said he had no knowledge of Zimmerman or his music, and Zimmerman dropped the lawsuit in 1994.[5]

Production

The song borrows from the traditions of black gospel music and spirituals. The production includes a gospel choir and the lyrics deal with inner peace and the afterlife. Joel sings "Not sure about a life after this. God knows I've never been a spiritual man," while stating that at night he walks along "The River of Dreams" so he can "find what he's been looking for." At 3 minutes 45 seconds, Joel can be heard singing The Cadillacs' version of "Gloria" as the music fades out.[citation needed]

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Two ancient vocal genres meet each other in a modern rhythmic context, when Joel's doowop falsetto gets wrapped up in the sound of gospel backup singers."[6] Alan Jones from Music Week gave the song three out of five, describing it as "a simple and immediate song wherein his vocals are echoed by a choir who imbue the song with spiritual qualities." He added, "A lot of fun, highly infectious and a hit."[7]

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by British commercial, film and music video director Andy Morahan.[8] The ferry featured is the Rocky Hill – Glastonbury Ferry in Connecticut.[citation needed] The video was shot on the Providence & Worcester railroad bridge spanning the Connecticut River in the city of Middletown, Connecticut. Joel and three backup singers appear throughout the video standing on the western span of the bridge, with the open center section of the bridge behind them. Other locations that were filmed in the music video are near Portland, East Haddam, and Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The scenes inside the tobacco barn with Joel on the piano were filmed inside a still-used tobacco barn in South Glastonbury, Connecticut.[citation needed]

Joel's then-wife Christie Brinkley can be seen painting the artwork that features on the front cover of the album River of Dreams.[citation needed] She is the illustrator who painted the actual album artwork, and each single released from the album featured one part of the large painting as cover art.[citation needed]

Track listings

All songs were written by Billy Joel.

  • UK CD single[9]
  1. "The River of Dreams"
  2. "The River of Dreams" (Percapella mix)
  3. "The Great Wall of China"
  • Japanese mini-CD single[10]
  1. "The River of Dreams" – 4:07
  2. "No Man's Land" – 4:49

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "The River of Dreams"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[58] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[59] Gold 25,000*
France (SNEP)[60] Gold 250,000*
Germany (BVMI)[61] Gold 250,000^
Japan — 220,000[62]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[63] Platinum 10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[64] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[65] Gold 500,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. July 17, 1993. p. 19.
  2. ^ a b Molanphy, Chris (April 30, 2020). "Still Billy Joel to Me Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  3. ^ Harrington, Richard (March 2, 1994). "THE GRAMMY WHAMMY". Washington Post. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  4. ^ "Songwriter Says He Lit Creative Fire Under Joel – Deseret News". Deseret News. August 12, 1993. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018.
  5. ^ "Songwriter Drops Fruitless Suit Against Billy Joel". Deseret News. August 27, 1994. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016.
  6. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 30. July 24, 1993. p. 13. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  7. ^ Jones, Alan (July 31, 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Singles" (PDF). Music Week. p. 26. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  8. ^ Garcia, Alex S. "mvdbase.com – Billy Joel – "The river of dreams"". Music Video DataBase. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  9. ^ The River of Dreams (UK CD single liner notes). Billy Joel. Columbia Records. 1993. 659543 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ The River of Dreams (Japanese mini-CD single liner notes). Billy Joel. Sony Records. 1993. SRDS 8258.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ^ Discogs – Zachary Alford – (profile & discography)
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