“Take Me to The River,” covered by The Commitments … (Soul – Music to Your Ears, Covers–45)
Derived from fictional musicians, this band returned the song to its roots of joyous soul.
The Commitments – “Take Me to The River”
“Take Me to The River” (1991 – original from 1974)
The Reverend Al Green penned this smooth soul song in 1974. Over the following 15 years, it was reinterpreted – with varying degress of success – as a rock song, a disco song, a blues song, a jazz song, a psychedelic funk song, and more.
Roots of Joy
The most successful version was undoubtedly Talking Heads’ fluid funky version from 1978. Until 1991, that is, when the fiction-derived band The Commitments returned the song to its roots of joyous soul.
In the film “The Commitments,” the newly formed band of young and largely inexperienced musicians climbed on stage and delivered this rocking, rousing version. (Image source)
The Commitments
Originally a fictional band in a novel by Roddy Doyle, The Commitments became a reality in the 1991 film of the same name. Set in Dublin, it tells the story of a bunch of working-class youths who are brought together to establish a soul band.
A Story with Soul
I don't know why I love her like I do All the changes you put me through
Take my money, my cigarettes
I haven't seen the worst of it yet
I wanna know that you'll tell me
I love to stay Take me to the river, drop me in the water
Take me to the river, dip me in the water
Washing me down, washing me down I don't know why you treat me so bad
Think of all the things we could have had
Love is an ocean that I can't forget
My sweet sixteen I would never regret
I wanna know that you'll tell me
I love to stay
Push me in the river, dip me in the water
Washing me down, washing me Hug me, squeeze me, love me, tease me
Till I can't, till I can't, till I can't take no more of it Take me to the water, drop me in the river
Push me in the water, drop me in the river
Washing me down, washing me down I don't know why I love you like I do
All the troubles you put me through
Sixteen candles there on my wall
And here am I the biggest fool of them all I wanna know that you'll tell me
I love to stay Take me to the river and drop me in the water
Dip me in the river, drop me in the water
Washing me down, washing me down. (Image source)
Al Green – “Take Me to The River” (Right-click to hear on YouTube)
Lyrics by Al Green, Mabon Hodges, courtesy of – AZLyrics.com
Reference – Wikipedia
Reference – Wikipedia
Into your ears … through 5 channels
The various posts are categorized into 5 channels (Right-Click to see details)
1 – “Music to Your Ears” (MTYE)
2 – “Cover Versions”
3 – “Honor Roll”
4 – “Documentaries”
5 – “Mock’n’Roll”
More “Cover Versions” ...
Cover Versions – Music to Your Ears – "Posts 1~20"Cover Versions – Music to Your Ears – "Posts 21~40"
Links to my other series ...
Lou Reed – "Anthology of Memorable Lyrics, Part 1"
Lou Reed – "Anthology of Memorable Lyrics, Part 2"
Great Lyrics, a compilation – “Part One – My Lyrics Posts 3~30”
Great Lyrics, a compilation – “Part Two – My Lyrics Posts 31~60”
Vocab-Ability – "Introduction to Vocab-Ability"
Vocab-Ability – "Index" to all Chapters and Sections
Notes from Under the Tatami Mats – "Part One – Notes 1~50"
Notes from Under the Tatami Mats – "Part Two – Notes 51~87"
Hi @majes.tytyty
Good rhythm, good music, in my year of birth it was released, which has been good for years since it was released.
Again first time I hear her
Thanks friend.
My little daughter likes me. tells me:
Hey dad, that music sounds good - he's only years old
That means that you're still young!!
As for playing this for your child(ren), I believe it's one of the best things you can do as a parent. Introduce them to great music / art, and enrich their lives from the very start. They'll be grateful.
I never knew there were so many versions of this song! Thanks for filling me in.
Just another question, and please forgive me for bothering you with it:
Do you happen to have an invite-link to the discord server of Tunes? I'm looking for someone to help me with technicalities. I've got 50 TUNES tokens stacked, but somehow my votes are without a result (including my 100% on this post), and if publish a post with a tunes tag, it goes also unnoticed. Is this tribe still active, I keep wondering.
I too did not realize that their were so many versions of this song. I knew only 3, until I researched this post.
As for your technical questions, I'm sorry, but I cannot help you, as I'm very tech-phobic. In fact, I have never been able to use Discord, even tho I am apparently registered on it. And the little tech that I understand is owing to the simplified explanations from fellow Steemians who help me out now and then.
Best of luck with those issues.
That's all right, still I appreciate you getting back to me. I'll figure it out, no worries, and I might even start earning some Tunes tokens.
You're always good at choosing love songs for your cover versions. This is no exemption. I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for sharing.