Lyrics

COLD BLUE RIVER

c1989 by Wishnefsky

Wishnefsky - vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass, synth
Dave Rodgers - drums

COMMENTS
I wrote this song for The Earthlings, a band Dave and I were in prior to Jabberwock. It was always a powerful, dynamic moment in Earthlings live performances. We never tried it live in Jabberwock, but Dave and I recorded it one night in the mid 90s to see how it fit in the repertoire.

I came across this mix as I went through DAT of unreleased mixes. I had not heard this song for many years. The first thing that struck me was that I had crammed a lot of words into a small space on the verses. Once I got past that hyper-critical thought, I realized how much I love this song.

The lyrics concern a young man and woman who live and die in an oppressive Central American regime. The rushing water of the cold blue river washes away their bodies, but not their dreams embodied in a journal locked in a wooden chest buried deep in the jungle. As the years pass, the wet acidic soil and bacteria eat away the chest and the journal itself. As the micro-organisms digest the pages, the spirit of the written dreams rises like mist into the clouds. The rain pours the dreams back into the cold blue river where they join with the water-logged souls of the long vanished young man and woman. So, at long last, they find peace. Will the rest of the world follow?

Wishnefsky