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| type = single
| type = single
| artist = [[Pat Boone]]
| artist = [[Pat Boone]]
| album = Moody River
| album = [[Moody River (album)|Moody River]]
| B-side = A Thousand Years
| B-side = A Thousand Years
| released = May 1961
| released = May 1961
| recorded =
| recorded = April 8, 1961
| studio =
| studio = [[Radio Recorders]], Hollywood, California, U.S.
| venue =
| venue =
| genre = [[Country pop]]
| genre = [[Country pop]]
Line 17: Line 17:
| writer = Gary D. Bruce
| writer = Gary D. Bruce
| producer = [[Randy Wood (record producer)|Randy Wood]]
| producer = [[Randy Wood (record producer)|Randy Wood]]
| prev_title = [[Theme of Exodus|The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| prev_year = 1960
| next_title =
| next_title = [[Big Cold Wind]]
| next_year =
| next_year = 1961
| misc = {{Audio sample
| misc =
| type = single
| file = Moody_River_by_Pat_Boone.ogg
}}
}}
}}


"'''Moody River'''" is a song written by and originally performed by country rockabilly singer Chase Webster (real name Gary Daniel Bruce, not to be confused with Gary Bruce of [[the Knack]]).
"'''Moody River'''" is a song written by and originally performed by country rockabilly singer Chase Webster (real name Gary Daniel Bruce, not to be confused with Gary Bruce, the drummer of [[The Knack]]).


[[Pat Boone]] recorded and released his own version in May 1961, where it reached number-one on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart the following month.<ref>''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}</ref> This was the title track from one of Boone's better-selling albums. Boone sang this song as if he were in pain.
[[Pat Boone]] recorded and released his own version in May 1961, where it reached number-one on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart the following month.<ref>''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}</ref> This was the title track from one of Boone's better-selling albums. Boone sang this song as if he were in pain.


==Plot==
==Plot==
The song tells the story of a man who goes to meet his love at the river, by the old oak tree, and finds that she has committed suicide. A note on the riverbank explains that she has cheated on him and that "No longer can I live with this hurt and this sin. I just couldn't tell you that guy was just a friend." He then looks into the river and sees his own reflection on the river looking back, ever hauntingly, at him. He is the "lonely, lonely face just lookin' back at me". So with "Tears in his eyes, and a prayer on his lips, and the glove of his lost love, at his fingertips".
The 'story-song' tells the tale of a man who plans to meet his love on the riverbank, by an old oak tree, but finds her glove and a note for him, indicating she has committed suicide via drowning, "river more deadly, than the vainest knife". The note explains that she had cheated on him and cannot lie about it, "No longer can I live with this hurt and this sin. I just couldn't tell you 'that guy was just a friend'."
He then notices his own reflection in the river, "lonely, lonely face just lookin' back at me", and begins to weep "Tears in his eyes, and a prayer on his lips, and the glove of his lost love, at his fingertips".

=="Vainest knife" lyric==
Gary Bruce's original lyrics were "more deadly than the sharpest knife", but during the recording session the P in "sharpest" kept [[pop filter|popping]]. Rather than find a different mic or a filter, Chase changed "sharpest" to "vainest" on the spot, with no thought given to the meaning.

When Pat Boone recorded it a couple of months later, Dot Records chief exec, Randy Wood, verified the lyric before Boone's release.


== Chart performance ==
== Chart performance ==
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* [http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/music/pat_boone_moody_river.php "Beachwood Reporter" background and commentary on Moody River]
* [http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/music/pat_boone_moody_river.php "Beachwood Reporter" background and commentary on Moody River]


{{Pat Boone}}

{{authority control}}
{{authority control}}


Latest revision as of 06:14, 7 August 2024

"Moody River"
Moody River by Pat Boone
Single by Pat Boone
from the album Moody River
B-side"A Thousand Years"
ReleasedMay 1961
RecordedApril 8, 1961
StudioRadio Recorders, Hollywood, California, U.S.
GenreCountry pop
Length2:41
LabelDot
Songwriter(s)Gary D. Bruce
Producer(s)Randy Wood
Pat Boone singles chronology
"The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)"
(1960) 		"Moody River"
(1961) 		"Big Cold Wind"
(1961)

"Moody River" is a song written by and originally performed by country rockabilly singer Chase Webster (real name Gary Daniel Bruce, not to be confused with Gary Bruce, the drummer of The Knack).

Pat Boone recorded and released his own version in May 1961, where it reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following month.[1] This was the title track from one of Boone's better-selling albums. Boone sang this song as if he were in pain.

Plot

[edit]

The 'story-song' tells the tale of a man who plans to meet his love on the riverbank, by an old oak tree, but finds her glove and a note for him, indicating she has committed suicide via drowning, "river more deadly, than the vainest knife". The note explains that she had cheated on him and cannot lie about it, "No longer can I live with this hurt and this sin. I just couldn't tell you 'that guy was just a friend'."

He then notices his own reflection in the river, "lonely, lonely face just lookin' back at me", and begins to weep "Tears in his eyes, and a prayer on his lips, and the glove of his lost love, at his fingertips".

"Vainest knife" lyric

[edit]

Gary Bruce's original lyrics were "more deadly than the sharpest knife", but during the recording session the P in "sharpest" kept popping. Rather than find a different mic or a filter, Chase changed "sharpest" to "vainest" on the spot, with no thought given to the meaning.

When Pat Boone recorded it a couple of months later, Dot Records chief exec, Randy Wood, verified the lyric before Boone's release.

Chart performance

[edit]
Chart (1961) Peak
position
Canada (CHUM Hit Parade)[2] 1
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[3] 1
U.K. Singles charts 18
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4] 1
U.S. Adult Contemporany 4

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  2. ^ CHUM Tribute Charts, June 26, 1961
  3. ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 20 July 1961
  4. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
[edit]


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