Songs about River

"River" by Versus
On their album "Stars are insane".

"River Phoenix" by Nada Surf, on their album "North 6th Street" (a special demo album).

"Chris Chambers" by Welsh band The Stereophonics, B-side of their single "Traffic", radio edit (there are 2 editions of this single, only one features the song "Chris Chambers"), released on October 28, 1997. Thanks Roxie [880K MP3] "Chris Chambers" 56 second excerpt.

"Ode to River Phoenix" by Calliope, on their album "Calliope". It was released in 1995. Thanks Melanie for this song and the 2 below

"River Phoenix" by Hannah Marcus, on her album "Faith Burns". MP3 excerpt on official Hannah Marcus site

"Song For River Phoenix (If I Had Known)" by Dana Lyons. Features on the album "Cows With Guns", released on November 17, 1998. The album is mainly parodic, but this song isn't. You can check an excerpt at CD Now (lyrics added)

	The single "Oh River" by Liberty 37, on their album "Greatest Gift" released in 1999. Probably about River though not expressly dedicated to him. [333K MP3] "Oh River" 21 second excerpt.
	"Matinee Idol" by Rufus Wainwright, on his debut album released in 1998. From interview by Lisa Wilton, for the Calgary Sun : "Yes, it's based on River Phoenix," he says with a tone of someone who has obviously been asked the question 20,000 times before. "I remember the day he died. It was such a shock because I was so obsessed with him." [727K MP3] "Matinee Idol" 46 second excerpt.
	"Surfin" by David Munyon, on his album "Acrylic Teepees" released in 1996. Thanks Barry David Munyon and fellow musician Dixie appeared in "The Thing Called Love".

"River" by Ellis Paul, on his album "Stories" released in 1995. Thanks Barry [550K WAV] "River" 26 second excerpt.

"The legacy of Oz" by Lou Sweigman.
A song about River, Marilyn Monroe & others. Thanks Barry

[613K WAV] "Legacy of Oz" 25 second excerpt.

"River, Run" by the band 'Suddenly, Tammy!'. It was apparently written between events outside the Viper Room and River being pronounced dead at the hospital but that is unconfirmed. The song features on the album "We Get There When We Do" ©1995. Thanks Tim [784K WAV] "River, Run" 36 second excerpt.

"California" by Belinda Carlisle. A song about River from her new album "A Woman and a Man". Thanks Lena

"River" by Natalie Merchant. On her first solo album entitled "Tiger Lily", released in 1995. [730K WAV] "River" 34 second excerpt.

"River Phoenix" by Jux County.
From the album "Simon's Eyes" which came out in February 1995.

[165K AU] "River Phoenix".

"Transcending" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Is on their album "One Hot Minute". The album came out in 1995.

"Cry me a River Phoenix" by the Creeping Charlies, written in 1994 from their album "Shot with a Chaser". More info and sound clips are available on the band's website and IUMA website *New link and new URL* [810K WAV] "Cry me a River Phoenix" 38 second excerpt.

"Sacred Life" by The Cult. From the album "The Cult", released in 1994. [836K WAV] "Sacred life" 38 sec. excerpt.

"Early nighters (for River Phoenix)", written by Chris Connelly. (lyrics added) On the album "Shipwreck" which was released in 1994. [3523K MP3] "Early nighters" 33 second excerpt.

Monster, the album by R.E.M. is dedicated to River. The album came out in 1994. The song "Let me in" was written about both Kurt Cobain and River Phoenix. In addition, Rain Phoenix sings on the track "Bang and Blame". River and R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe were good friends and wrote some songs together but none had been recorded at the time of River's death.

"Phoenix Blues" by The Weird. Was recorded on December 23rd, 1993, only weeks after River's death and released a 7-inch single on Earth Day, 1994. Later, they filmed a music video and released that on Earth Day, 1995. lyrics and cover scans added [120K AU] "Phoenix Blues".

"River Phoenix : Letter to a Young Actor" written by Milton Nascimento. This song is in Portuguese, sung and written by the Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento after he had seen River in "The Mosquito Coast". The song is on Milton's 1989 release entitled "Miltons". Thanks to Adriana Demjen for the English translation on this page. [1053K WAV] "Letter to a young actor" 48 sec. excerpt.

"E-Bow the Letter" by R.E.M.
The words "For River" can be seen on the sleeve of this single from R.E.M. (the words are in the driving mirror of the car and a little blurry, quite difficult to read but definitely here). The song is believed to be about River. Thanks Katie

"Martinis and Bikinis" by Sam Phillips. This new album is dedicated to River who was a friend of Sam's and a fan of her work. Thanks Adriana

"Halloween", by Grant Lee Buffalo. The song only appears on the double-CD "Storm Hymnal : Gems from the Vault of Grant Lee Buffalo", released in 2001 after the band split, and compiling their most famous songs on one CD, and rarities and unreleased tracks on the other. This tribute to River features on the second. [374K MP3] "Halloween" 24 sec. excerpt. (Added October 31, 2006)

"River (My own private Idaho)", by Omar Pedrini. On the album "Beatnik" released in 1996 by Polygram Italia. [365K MP3] "River (My own private Idaho)" 23 sec. excerpt. (Added August 23, 2007)

Songs referring to River

The following are not dedicated to River neither tributes but they do mention him so...

"(He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River" by T.I.S.M.
On the album "Machiavelli and The Four Seasons", released May 1995. This one isn't really a tribute, but still I thought I should include it.

[557 K MP2] "Ol'Man River" Mpeg Audio file (142 sec).

"Hollywood", by Jay-Z. On the album "Kingdom Come.The song reflects on stardom, addiction to fame and its cost. (Added August 23, 2007)

Books about River

River Phoenix: A Short Life by Brian J. Robb. Published by Plexus in 1995. The first book to be published about River following his death. Plenty of good colour and mono pix. ISBN 0-85965-214-9

The River Phoenix Album by Penelope Dening. Published by Plexus. A large format picture book with a concise and illuminating appraisal of River's life and work. ISBN 0-85965-229-7

River Phoenix : Hero and Heartthrob by Grace Catalano. Published 1986 by Bantam, now out of print.

Lost In Hollywood: The Fast Times and Short Life of River Phoenix by John Glatt. Published by Donald I. Fine (US) in 1995. Also published in UK by Piatkus under the title River Phoenix : The Biography. The first major biography, a little lightweight in places but well worth a read. A rather poor selection of pictures though, at least in the UK version. ISBN 0-74991-511-0

River Phoenix by Penny Stempel. One in a series entitled "They Died Too Young" published by Parragon. A neat little pocket sized book, available as far as I know only through Woolworth stores in the UK. It can be ordered to WATTERSTONE'S book store, tel.0171-581-8522. ISBN 0-75250-725-7 There's been a re-release of this biography "River Phoenix : They Died Too Young" in a more usual format, and library binding. It's published by Chelsea House Pub in January 2000. ISBN 0-79105-229-X

Running on Empty by John Barker. A biography written by a fan, for fans, published by Phoenix Literary Productions ISBN 0-96656-120-1

The interview of Gus Van Sant by River Phoenix, originally published in Interview Magazine (March 1991), also features in "Projections (a forum for film-makers)", first volume (in 1992) of an annual study on film-making edited by John Boorman and Walter Donohue, published by Faber. ISBN 0-571-16729-2

Poussières d'anges, a collection of short stories in French by Ann Scott. All of these stories are about loss, each one telling how Ann lived the death of a different person or being, often at a young age, most having been parts of her life, and some others being celebrities, like Joey Ramones or River. The story about River is rather unusual : Ann Scott tells how she was in her parents house for holidays, and on a October night she heard a kind of howling coming from the forest. Following it, she found an intriguing scene, a pond of foaming water, above which floated the transparent body of a teenager, a boy "with fine features like a fawn or a forest creature", surrounded by a phosphorescent halo. As the air got cold and two trees bended their branches to catch him, she woke up on a cry. In her house. She quietened, went back to sleep. The day after, she turned on TV, and heard in the news the death of Federico Fellini and River Phoenix, with the classical eulogy, excerpts of films, upbringing, interview bits, and a last close-up on his forest creature's face... I've been unable to figure out if the story was indeed autobiographical, and if she knew about River prior to his death or not. ISBN: 2-290-31859-0 Published in 2002 by Librio.

Miscellaneous

River and Will Wheaton feature in the video accompanying the 1987 re-release of Ben E. King's song "Stand By Me".

The films Interview with the Vampire and Even Cowgirls get the Blues are dedicated to River.

Not really a tribute, but the screenplays of My Own Private Idaho and Even Cowgirls get the Blues by Gus Van Sant are together available as a book, published by Faber, and including some pictures of River. The screenplays are as originally written by Gus and make an interesting comparison with the films. There's also an interview with Gus. ISBN 0-57116-920-1

The screenplay of My Own Private Idaho by Gus Van Sant has been released once more, as a pocket book this time, still by Faber. Same material as above (Gus' interview, etc), except the "Even cowgirls get the blues" screenplay. ISBN 0-571-20259-4

The documentary film about River called "This Road Will Never End" was shown by Channel 4 Television in the UK on September 8th 1996. More information here.

The E! Entertainment Channel in US dedicated one of its E! True Hollywood Story documentaries to River. Rather tasteless in general, but not as much as feared, retrospectively, and featuring a couple of rare documents.

"Horror Hospital: Unplugged", a graphic novel by Dennis Cooper (who wrote an article in Spin about River's death, see the Magazine Articles page) and Keith Mayerson, chronicles the adventures and struggles of a young lead-singer with love, sex, the music industry and a spiritual visitation from the ghost of River Phoenix. ISBN: 0965104214 Published in 1996 by Juno Books. Thanks Penelope

A new River Phoenix documentary has been done by Mr John Griffin for the Celebrity Channel, and was aired in US on March 12 and 13, 2002, on the Arts & Entertainment channel.
US residents can buy the show on tape on the Biography site here (unfortunately, shipment is not allowed outside US so far).
UK Broadcast : The Biography Channel scheduled the River Bio show for the 7th July, 2002, at 21:00 for the UK broadcast. The channel is available on Sky digital. Check out local listings for reruns.
Unlike the E! one, this documentary was not the result of a commission, but was initiated by Mr Griffin to present a more complete image of River that was usually showed. It features interviews of people who worked with River, rare footage.

American Fame Pt. 1: Drowning River Phoenix.
This short movie directed by Cam Archer reflects the effect on fame on the life of River. It was shown in several film festivals in 2004. Jasper Bel plays the part of River Phoenix. (added October 2006, 31)

The Last 24 : (also known as "The Final 24") one episode of the a documentary series produced by Discovery Channel was about the last day of River. Find a review here.

Filmen over grenzen (Filming beyond boundaries) (2006) : this documentary about George Sluizer's work as a director features footage from "Dark Blood", the movie that River and George Sluizer were working on together at the time of River's death's. The movie remained unfinished and unreleased.

Spook Country, by William Gibson. Not an homage per se, but there has been a lot of mentions of River Phoenix in reviews about this new novel by the author of "Neuromancer". Quoting an article from the Toronto Star : At the beginning of the novel, a computer artist named Alberto Corrales is using GPS to create site-specific displays of virtual reality. Go to the precise spot on the Los Angeles sidewalk where movie star River Phoenix dropped dead of a drug overdose in 1993, put on Alberto's helmet, and suddenly you're looking at poor River, lying face down on the cement.

"I've learned that if you can't get it all together to accomplish this thing called peace, you do at least your part in your life, because that's where you can truly make an immediate difference." -- River Phoenix