☝️ Key Points
- The song expresses deep emotions and the longing for a lost love, using the 'river of tears' as a metaphor for sadness and despair.
- The distance between the singer and the person he misses is both physical and emotional.
- The singer's desire to hide his feelings is highlighted by his mention of escaping and hiding in a city where no one knows his face.
- The singer yearns to hold his missed love interest once again, but feels that his time has run out.
- The repeated line 'I feel like I'm drowning in a river, drowning in a river of tears' emphasizes the ongoing sadness and the feeling of being overwhelmed by emotions.
Interpretation
'River of Tears' by
Eric Clapton is a song that expresses deep emotions and longing for a lost love interest. The singer feels lost and drowning in a 'river of tears', a metaphor for his sadness and despair since the breakup. The lines 'It's three miles to the river that would carry me away' and 'It's two miles to the dusty road that I saw you on today' illustrate the distance between him and the person he misses. This distance is both physical and emotional.
The singer also speaks of the need to flee and hide in a town where nobody knows his face, further highlighting his isolation and the need to conceal his feelings and suffering. He yearns to hold the person he misses once again to alleviate the pain, but he feels his time has run out and he must run away again.
The repeated line 'I feel like I'm drowning in a river, drowning in a river of tears' emphasizes his enduring sadness and the feeling of being overwhelmed by his emotions. Finally, the singer expresses hope that one day he will return here and be relieved of his suffering.