Jul

30

WaterDance Playlist

July 30, 2008 | Posted by Terry Meyer
15 Comments

First of all, thanks to everyone who sent their suggestions for our WaterDance Playlist!   In last month’s Connections, I invited people to send me their favorite “water songs.”  The response has been terrific!  We’ve got some new stuff, some oldies, some bluegrass, some folk, some show tunes, some classical.  In much the same way that AWRA serves a multidisciplinary audience, our taste in music is multi-genre and eclectic.  There’s something here for everyone.  Grab your iPod or MP3 and get started!

I expect this list will grow as folks add even more great “water songs.”

As you read through, please keep the following in mind: 
 

  • I have not indicated who the songwriter is for each song.  In many cases, the singer is also the songwriter, but certainly not in every case.  If you are very curious, you may research at one of the many lyrics websites, or on the artist’s website.  Or, try  www.wikipedia.com –  it is surprisingly helpful in this regard.
  • When I have a favorite, I have listed the version(s) I like best.  Many of these songs have been covered by multiple artists.  Pick the one you like the best, and if it’s not listed here, share it with us in the comments.
  • If you don’t know a song, and want to listen before committing it to your playlist, try searching for it on www.rhapsody.com.  They allow a few free listens to entire songs, and they have an extensive audio library.  You can also try www.youtube.com.  Many bootlegged, cellphone videos of live performances can be found here.  Be forewarned:  The audio (and the video) is often not great.
  • I think this playlist will work in exactly this order, but feel free to mix it up as you see fit.

“Good Planets are Hard to Find” (Steve Forbert)
“Louisiana 1927” (Randy Newman/Aaron Neville)
“Take Me to the River” (Al Green/Talking Heads)
“The River” (John Hiatt)
“The River” and “Trouble River” (Bruce Springsteen)
“Paradise” (John Prine)
“Cry Me a River” (Ella Fitzgerald/Joe Cocker)
“Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” (Otis Redding)
“Old Man River” (Paul Robeson)
“Proud Mary” aka “Rollin’ on the River” (Credence Clearwater Revival/Ike &Tina Turner)
“Moon River” (Audrey Hepburn/Andy Williams)
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (Gordon Lightfoot)
“Wasted on the Way” (Crosby, Stills, & Nash)
“Water of Love” and “Down to the Water Line” (Dire Straits)
“Once in a Lifetime” (Talking Heads)
“Black Water” (Doobie Brothers)
“Down by the River” (Neil Young)
“Riverside” and “Don’t Cross the River” (America)
“Watching the River Run” (Loggins & Messina)
“River, Stay Away from My Door” (Fiona Apple)
“Five Feet High and Rising” and “Big River” (Johnny Cash)
“Down to the River to Pray” (Alison Kraus)
“River” (Joni Mitchell)
“Riverside Rhapsody” (Grateful Dead)
Handel’s Water Music

And here’s a suggestion from Jami Nettles from several months back when we were still talking movies … 

“I know you are just collecting movies, but if you ever go to music, there is an Australian band, Augie March (www.augiemarch.com) that has lots of water references.  In getting to know other fans, it turns out that there are a disproportionate number of civil engineers and hydrology types.  The most obvious is “Maroondah Reservoir” (Maroondah is an experimental watershed with significant forest water volume studies), but just about every other type is water body is referenced.”   

Thanks, Jami (and everyone!).  Worth a listen.Enjoy!

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Comments

15 Comments so far

  1. Michael "Aquadoc" Campana on July 31, 2008 4:27 am

    Great list! A good site for lyrics is http://www.top40db.net

    I would add:

    “River Deep, Mountain High” – Ike & Tina Turner

    “Dirty Water” – Standells

    “Yellow River” – Christie

    “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” – Pete Seeger

    “Fire Lake” – Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band

    “Heart of the Night” – Poco

    “Watching the River Flow” – Bob Dylan

    “I Can’t Stand the Rain” – Ann Peebles/Eruption

    “Rainy Night in Georgia” — Brook Benton

    “Born on the Bayou” — Creedence Clearwater Revival

    “Lake Shore Drive” (aka “LSD”) – Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah

    “Ferry Cross the Mersey” – Gerry and the Pacemakers

    “The Rain, the Park & Other Things” – The Cowsills

    “Raindrops” – Dee Clark

    Any song by the Pozo-Seco (”dry well” in Spanish) Singers or Johnny Rivers (”Summer Rain”)

  2. Brad Janke on July 31, 2008 4:19 pm

    Good song about a failing dam:
    “St. Francis Dam Disaster” – Frank Black and The Catholics

  3. Jennifer on July 31, 2008 4:35 pm

    “White’s Ferry” – Clutch

  4. Jeff Walker on July 31, 2008 5:14 pm

    “Water in the Sky” – Phish

  5. Jeff Hoffman on August 1, 2008 1:18 pm

    Here’s a great educational CD. “Rocks and Water” by Chris Rawlings.

    songs:
    Living on a Layer Cake (stratigraphy)
    Rock Cycle Rock (rock cycles)
    Some Mountains (volcanoes)
    Saturated Zone (unconfined aquifers)
    Sweet and Sour Rain (acid rain)
    Wetland Wonderland (wetlands)
    Groundwater Song (ground water cycle)
    I am a Raindrop (hydrologic cycle)
    By the Sea (about coastal ecology)

    I would also add:
    ‘Have You Ever Seen the Rain’ & ‘Who’ll Stop the Rain’- Creedence Clearwater Revival

    ‘Merrick’ – Anonymous 4 (shaped note/sacred harp song about praying for rain during a drought)

    ‘Shall we Gather by the River’ & ‘Wade in the Water’ – gospel songs

    ‘Catch a Wave’ – Beach Boys (and many other surf songs)

    ‘I Love a Rainy Night’ – Eddie Rabbitt

    ‘Rhythm of the Rain’ – The Cascades

    ‘Mopping, Mopping, Mopping’ – The Bobs (about hurricane flooding)

    ‘Ride Across the River’ – Dire Straits

    ‘Riders on the Storm’ – The Doors

    ‘Early Morning Rain’ & ‘Rainy Day People’ – Gordon Lightfoot

    ‘Waterfall’ – Greg Greenway

    ‘Water Boy’ – Paul Robeson

    ‘Rain and Snow’ & ‘Shenandoah’- American folk songs

    ‘Cool Water’ – Riders in the Sky

    ‘Muddy Water’ – The Seldom Scene

    ‘I See A River’ – from the musical Urinetown

  6. Terry Meyer on August 1, 2008 4:21 pm

    WOW!

    My husband actually suggested “Riders on the Storm,” but I thought it might be too metaphorical. I stand corrected.

    He also suggested the Van Morrison tune, “And It Stoned Me.”

  7. Dick Engberg on August 1, 2008 4:50 pm

    A few others:

    Roll on Columbia – The Weavers

    Down by the Riverside – so old I don’t know who did it.

    Also Julie London did an incredible version of “Cry Me a River”

    One of my favorites of all time:

    “Cryin’” by Rob Orbison

    “Blue Bayou” also by Roy Orbison

    Who could forget “Rainy Days and Monday’s” by The Carpenters I was crazy about Karen.

    “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” – B. J. Thomas

    Finally:

    “Cry” by Johnny Ray

  8. Dick Engberg on August 1, 2008 5:54 pm

    A few more I just thought of:

    Beyond the Sea – Bobby Darin

    Red Sails in the Sunset – Nat King Cole

    City of New Orleans – Arlo Guthrie and others

    Singin’ in the Rain – Debbie Reynolds did in the ’50’s movie of the same name

    Mississippi Mud – Bing Crosby

    Victory at Sea – Music by Richard Rodgers for a TV series of the same name in the ’50’s

  9. dcollins on August 3, 2008 2:27 am

    I can see clearly now – Johnny Nash

    And on fluvial geomorphology:
    Castles Made of Sand – Jimi Hendrix

  10. dcollins on August 3, 2008 2:31 am

    ‘Roll on Columbia’, or rather ‘Roll on Columbia, Roll on’, was originally by Woody Guthrie, and a paid propaganda piece at that.

  11. Colin on August 7, 2008 5:26 pm

    “Remember the Red River Valley” -American Folk Song

  12. melwinter on August 7, 2008 5:47 pm

    ‘The River Waltz’ by Jim Bianco.
    It’s the one song that kept running through my head during the Los Angeles River kayak trip. Definitely one of my favorites.

    And we can’t forget the song about the burning of the Cuyahoga river (an event that helped bring about the Clean Water Act):
    ‘Burn On’ by Randy Newman.

    Here are a bunch of others:

    ‘I’m Only Happy When it Rains’ by Garbage
    ‘I Think it’s Gonna Rain Today’ by Randy Newman
    ‘Goodbye to a River’ by Don Henley
    ‘I Wish it Would Rain’ The Temptations
    ‘Walk Between the Raindrops’ by Donald Fagen
    ‘California Rain’ by Madeleine Peyroux
    ‘South Central Rain’ and ‘Find the River’ by REM
    ‘Rains on Me’ by Tom Waits
    ‘Black River’ by Amos Lee
    ‘Long and Lazy River’ by Nellie McKay
    ‘The River’s Rising’ by Joe Cocker
    ‘This River is Wild’ by The Killers
    ‘Traveling Riverside Blues’ by Led Zeppelin
    ‘Ride Across the River’ by Dire Straits
    ‘Crystal River’ by Mudcrutch
    ‘Big River’ by Johnny Cash
    ‘Jump in the River’ by Sinead O’Conner
    ‘Watershed’ by the Indigo Girls
    and the traditional folk song ‘The Water is Wide’
    (I like the James Taylor or Karls Bonoff versions)

  13. Brynne Bob Whitney on September 8, 2008 2:26 am

    BRING TO BOIL – also by THE BOBS, from their year 2000 CD, Coaster

    Totally geeky fun!

  14. Jane Rowan on October 23, 2008 1:26 pm

    “Waterside” by Patty Larkin (bluesy-nice song)

  15. Playing with Water - Vacation Spots for Water Lovers : AWRA Water Blog on July 31, 2009 2:58 pm

    [...] of films with water as a theme, setting, plot device, or even a character.  We have also created a diverse and extensive playlist of songs having to do with water for your iPod or other tune-bearing device.  Feel free to visit [...]

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