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River by Joni Mitchell

Stories of Joni Mitchell's River, from her 1971 album Blue. A song about a broken relationship and of a longing to be elsewhere that has become a melancholy Christmas anthem.

Stories of Canadian singer Joni Mitchell's River, from her iconic 1971 album Blue. A song about the breakdown of a relationship and of a longing to be elsewhere that has become a melancholy Christmas anthem.

Emotional true stories of what the song means to different people, including comedian Chris Forbes, who lost his father on Christmas Day; Isobel, who fell sick far from home and understands the longing to be elsewhere captured in the song; Laura, who heard the song while pregnant at Christmastime; writer Rob Crossan, who will forever associate the song with his first love; Canadian poet Lorna Crozier who describes the frozen rivers of her and Joni's Saskatchewan childhood; and from Joni Mitchell's biographer David Yaffe.

Image: Joni Mitchell, pictured in 1970 (Credit: Roy Jones/Getty Images)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Sat 30 Dec 2023 22:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Christmas Day 2019 11:32GMT
  • Christmas Day 2019 18:32GMT
  • Christmas Day 2019 21:32GMT
  • Christmas Day 2019 23:32GMT
  • Boxing Day 2019 02:32GMT
  • Boxing Day 2019 03:32GMT
  • Sun 29 Dec 2019 18:32GMT
  • Wed 27 Dec 2023 04:32GMT
  • Wed 27 Dec 2023 11:32GMT
  • Wed 27 Dec 2023 18:32GMT
  • Wed 27 Dec 2023 23:32GMT
  • Sat 30 Dec 2023 02:32GMT
  • Sat 30 Dec 2023 22:32GMT