#roedelius

By This River

A couple months back, I put together an hour-long mix of various versions of "By This River" — a song by Dieter Moebius, Brian Eno and Hans-Joachim Roedelius that first showed up on Eno's classic Before and After Science LP. There are orchestral interpretations, solo acoustic renditions, harps, synths — there's even a very skilled whistler floating down this "River."

Here's the tracklisting: Brian Eno, “By This River” ++ Hans-Joachim Roedelius, “Skizze 4 von By This River” ++ Mari Samuelsen & Konzerthausorchester Berlin, “By This River” ++ Mary Lattimore, “By This River” ++ Sergio Sorrentino, “By This River” ++ Martin L. Gore, “By This River” ++ Elena Somaré, ” By This River” ++ Console, “By This River” ++ Bruce Brubaker, “By This River” ++ Speed The Plough, “By This River” ++ Giampaolo Capelli, “By This River” ++ Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, “By This River” ++ Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto, “By This River (Phantom)” ++ Roedelius & Jean-Benoit Dunckel, “Silencio, Pt. 7 (By This River)”

Why did I do this? I don't know! But maybe it's just because the song has a certain hypnotic quality that seems to stop time, that simple keyboard hook flowing over Eno's hushed vocals. The lyrics, too — they're not straightforward, exactly, but they communicate something that has always connected with me, now more than ever. The narrator is in some kind of purgatory, "stuck by this river." He's not alone, but he's unable to really communicate meaningfully with the other people on the banks (hmm, feels familiar). It's a vision, a dream, a longing. "My River runs to thee," Emily Dickinson wrote. "Blue Sea – Wilt welcome me?"

HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS - Nackt

Alb. “Tace!” (1993)