Lord of the Reedy River

[brillo69]

I fell in love with a swan.
My eyes were filled with feathers,
He filled me with song,
In the reedy river,
In the reedy river.

I in my boat long hours,
He in his royal plumage--
I threw him some flowers,
In the reedy river,
In the reedy river.

Black was the night and starry.
I loosened off my garments
And let forth my hair,*
In the reedy river,
In the reedy river.

Sadly we mourned and sighed,
Whilst in evening twilight
Two swans glide and fly
In the reedy river,
In the reedy river,
("Two swans glide and fly")
In the reedy river.
("Two swans glide and fly")

I fell in love with a swan...
(unintelligible spoken words)

*--"let forth":

[Kevin2]

I just heard this song for the first time this last weekend and ~ Wow ~ I am amazed with it. Is this typical for the B-sides? How similar is this to the Donovan version?

[LilyWhite]

kevan said:

I just heard this song for the first time this last weekend and ~ Wow ~ I am amazed with it. Is this typical for the B-sides? How similar is this to the Donovan version?

Never heard the Donovan version--but I made my best girlfriend a tape and this was her all time favorite Kate song!!!

[stev0]

kevan said:

I just heard this song for the first time this last weekend and ~ Wow ~ I am amazed with it. Is this typical for the B-sides? How similar is this to the Donovan version?

It is a wonderful song. However, it's not typical of her B-sides; most are even BETTER!

Also, one major change she made from the Donovan version is in the perspective of the lyrics; he made it third person, she made it first person (thus making it much more intense).

[Kevin2]

stev0 said:

It is a wonderful song. However, it's not typical of her B-sides; most are even BETTER!

Great news! I'm skeptical, but still it's nice to hear.

I wonder why Donovan didn't sing it first-person - he's the only artist I can think of other than Kate for which

I fell in love with a swan
My eyes were filled with feathers

wouldn't damper my enthusiasm.

For the short period of time between my first hearing the song and then realizing it's a Donovan cover I considered it to be the quintessential Kate song. I'm looking forward to hearing the other B-sides.

[stev0]

I don't know; having the protagonist be male seems all kinds of wrong to me...

[julia]

Im glad this song has made it onto the site! I loved it as soon as I heard it all those years ago, I played it over and over again, more so than the A side in the end! It's haunting, eerie and very atmospheric, and I may be wrong (probably am!) but does Donovan provide the backing vocals towards the end does anyone know?

[Al Truest]

julia said:

Im glad this song has made it onto the site! I loved it as soon as I heard it all those years ago, I played it over and over again, more so than the A side in the end! It's haunting, eerie and very atmospheric, and I may be wrong (probably am!) but does Donovan provide the backing vocals towards the end does anyone know?

Although the song was originally written and recorded by Donovan, as you may know, I would be quite surprised if he provided BV's. I may be wrong, but I would surely have read that by now.

edit - 'just did a Google/Gaffaweb search. The only credit to Donovan I found was "Thanks to Donovan for writing such a beautiful song" KB

[julia]

Thanks for the quick reply!

[Al Truest]

julia said:

Thanks for the quick reply!

No prob. 'just doing my job. (the pay is tremendous, don't you know )

[Xanadu]

I recently heard this song again (occasionally I dust off the disc 1 & 2 of TWW and revist them)

This, along with a few others, inspired an entire CD for me. There just isn't enough of an outlet to enjoy these wonderful treasures. It really turned out excellent, and I'd love to share the list... just let me know over in EX4.

[Kevin2]

xanadu76 said:

I recently heard this song again (occasionally I dust off the disc 1 & 2 of TWW and revist them)

This, along with a few others, inspired an entire CD for me. There just isn't enough of an outlet to enjoy these wonderful treasures. It really turned out excellent, and I'd love to share the list... just let me know over in EX4.

I have very little idea as to what any of that means, but yeah Lord of the Reedy River FREAKIN ROCKS!!!

[tannis]

A Lady of Shalott adrift on the lake...

All in the blue unclouded weather,
Thickjewelled shone the saddle-leather.
The helmet, and the helmet-feather
Burned like one burning flame together,
As he rode down from Camelot.
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
Moves over green Shalott.

Donovan - Swan (Lord Of The Reedy River)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSPgdX3agss

Lord of the Reedy River
Donovan, H.M.S. Donovan, 1971

She fell in love with a swan
Her eyes were filled with feathers
He filled her with song
In the reedy river
In the reedy river

She in her boat long hours
She in his royal plumage
She threw him some flowers
In the reedy river
In the reedy river

Black was the night
And starry
She loosened up her garments
And let fall her hair
In the reedy river
In the reedy river
In the reedy river
In the reedy river

Sadly they mourn and sign
Whilst in evening twilight
Two swans glide
And fly...
O'er the reedy river
O'er the reedy river

She fell in love with a swan
Her eyes were filled with feathers
He filled her with song
In the reedy river
In the reedy river

She fell in love with a swan

A cloudwhite crown of pearl she dight.
All raimented in snowy white
That loosely flew, (her zone in sight,
Clasped with one blinding diamond bright,)
Her wide eyes fixed on Camelot,
Though the squally eastwind keenly
Blew, with folded arms serenely
By the water stood the queenly
Lady of Shalott.

Adolescent, helplessly sexual, 'Lord Of The Reedy River' has Kate languorously in love with a swan. There's nothing to the melody and the backing is a symphony of dripping water and the aching creak of rowlocks as the singer, a Lady of Shalott adrift on the lake, pursues her vain love; yet this sparse suggestion is the essence of it all.
Glynn Brown, Select Magazine, 1990
gaffa.org/dreaming/tww_box.html

As when to sailors while they roam,
By creeks and outfalls far from home,
Rising and dropping with the foam,
From dying swans wild warblings come,
Blown shoreward; so to Camelot
Still as the boathead wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her chanting her deathsong,
The Lady of Shalott.

Kate Bush - Lord Of The Reedy River
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2_Y_8tdv_0

Lord of the Reedy River
Kate Bush, B-side, Sat In Your Lap 7" (June 1981)
This Woman's Work (box set, 1990)

I fell in love with a swan.
My eyes were filled with feathers,
He filled me with song,
In the reedy river,
In the reedy river.

I in my boat long hours,
He in his royal plumage--
I threw him some flowers,
In the reedy river,
In the reedy river.

Black was the night and starry.
I loosened off my garments
And let forth my hair,
In the reedy river,
In the reedy river.

Sadly we mourned and sighed,
Whilst in evening twilight
Two swans glide and fly
O'er the reedy river,
O'er the reedy river,
("Two swans glide and fly")
O'er the reedy river.
("Two swans glide and fly")

I fell in love with a swan...
(unintelligible spoken words)

[As much as it pains this fan to report it, I must mention that Kate has made what appears to be a slight error in the course of adapting the song from the third to the first person (a change which becomes possible because of Kate's ability to assume the role of the song's female character). In the final verse the original line--"SaDLy they mourned and sighed"--apparently refers to an implied group of mourners [Knight and burgher, lord and dame], perhaps friends and relatives, who believe that the heroine of the song has drowned and been lost in the river, when in fact the lovers--now both swans--fly over the mourners' heads. Kate, however, changes the pronoun "they" to "we", in keeping with her other shifts from third to first person. This change unfortunately confuses the most likely meaning of the verse. Other interpretations which accomodate Kate's version are possible, however.]
Lord of the Reedy River
gaffa.org/sensual/l_lotrr.html

Under tower and balcony,
By gardenwall and gallery,
A pale, pale corpse she floated by,
Deadcold, between the houses high,
Dead into towered Camelot.
Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
To the plankèd wharfage came:
Below the stern they read her name,
"The Lady of Shalott."

They crossed themselves, their stars they blest,
Knight, minstrel, abbot, squire and guest.
There lay a parchment on her breast,
That puzzled more than all the rest,
The wellfed wits at Camelot.
"The web was woven curiously
The charm is broken utterly,
Draw near and fear not--this is I,
The Lady of Shalott."

~ Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott (1833 edition)
www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/shalcomb.htm

KaTe: "Donovan has got the most beautiful voice -- that very slow vibrato that people like Cliff Richard can put on, but [Donovan] has it very naturally. I mean he sings like this all the time. And again, he's an incredible song writer, lyric writer. He can play the guitar and he has that fantastic voice. And it seemed that he'd really got caught up in the copying of Dylan when he first signed up and was singing. And he was wearing the hats and he was carrying the guitar and everyone thought he was just a Dylan copy, when in fact he wasn't at all. And it seems that he's just been forgotten, he's gone under. It's ridiculous. I can't stand to see that happen to people, especially someone like him. One of my favourite albums of his is H.M.S. Donovan - which I think has been deleted now, which is even more ridiculous. And it's beautiful: fantastic illustrated cover; a double album, and each song is either a fairy story or something he's written to other people's words. He's used Blake's poems, he's used some Lewis Carroll - a big selection of fantasy stuff. And one of my favourite tracks from there, which he actually wrote himself to his own music, is Lord of the Reedy River.''
(1980, BBC)

KaTe: "I had recorded 'Sat in your Lap' and at the time I never had anything to go on the B-side and I can remember at the time seeing Donovan on the TV. I hadn't seen him on the telly for nearly eight years, and there he was on quite a few programmes, it seemed everywhere I looked there was Donovan, it was a very strange feeling, something seemed to point me in his direction, then I started to play 'HMS Donovan' which is my all time favourite album. It was then I decided to record 'The Lord of the Reedy River' because it's such a beautiful song. So I phoned Donovan up and asked him for his permission to record the song, and he was so nice about it all, that I asked him if he would like to do some harmony vocals and he said 'Yes', and of course, he did."
gaffa.org/dreaming/td_bside.html

KaTe: "...so far we have finished one single and the B-side, which is really great - a Donovan song. I've always wanted to do one of his songs, because I've admired his music and his voice for years. I decided to do this song and through a coincidence it started happening. Someone asked me what I was doing for the B-side while we were watching a Crystal Gayle show on TV. I was telling them I was going to do this Donovan song and all of a sudden Crystal Gayle said, '...and now my very special guest is Donovan' and you know we hadn't seen him on TV for years and years. It was really like it was right... and he came into the studio and did some backing vocals which is really great because I've always wanted to work with him."
gaffa.org/dreaming/td_bside.html

Donovan & Crystal Gayle - Catch The Wind
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMknrmuDD0o
An exquisite duet from 1981