Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library associate Melanie and features some music having to do with rivers.

Take Me To The River

This is a playlist with lots of songs about rivers – both literal and metaphorical – around the world. Enjoy!

Al Green – “Take Me To The River”

Madness – “Night Boat To Cairo”

Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Green River”

Mavis Staples – “In The Mississippi River”

Alison Krauss (from O Brother, Where Art Thou?-2000) – “Down to the River to Pray”

Lefty Frizzell – “James River”

Original Broadway cast of Big River – “River in the Rain”

Joni Mitchell – “River”

Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy – “When the Levee Breaks”

Old Crow Medicine Show – “James River Blues”

Hemant Kumar (from Kabuliwala – 1961) – “Ganga Aaye Kahan Se”

Gerry and the Pacemakers – “Ferry Cross the Mersey”

Billy Joel – “River of Dreams”

Pete Seeger – “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”

Paul Williams (from Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas – 1977) – “When the River Meets the Sea”

Neil Young – “Down By The River”

R.E.M. – “Cuyahoga”

Enya – “Orinoco Flow”

The Melodians – “Rivers of Babylon”

Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint – “The River in Reverse”

Pixies – “River Euphrates”

Ike and Tina Turner – “Proud Mary”

Randy Newman – “Burn On”

Jimmy Cliff – “Many Rivers To Cross”

Bruce Springsteen – “The River”

Zitany Neil/Soukous Stars – “Marcory Gasoil”

Talking Heads – “Take Me To The River”

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU94rco57ZeyX1sWqgssBjMJjTw11gEgh&si=pluZcqQHX3VZYmVi

And here is a version of it on Spotify: