Boat On The River

[BlackWall]

Is there any known story behind the meaning of this song? I mean, it seems pretty clear as to the inspiration, but I was just wondering if Tommy has ever talked about how it came to be?

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Here you go, I'll find the other article. This is new from Tommy, it's in the Cleveland thread:

Boat On The River (T. Shaw)
During the time we were writing the songs for "Cornerstone" I picked up my first mandolin in a local music and took it home to figure out how to play it. Boat on the River is what came to me. It felt finished as soon as I heard it in my head. I recorded the demo that night in my living room on a four track reel-to-reel tape recorder and took it to the band the next day. One of the things I love about STYX is that they never flinched and embraced this song which is more like a traditional folk song than something you'd expect from us. It has since been translated and recorded in over 20 different languages by other artists around the world.

[jimmy19029]

I remember seeing it high in the charts in Germany and other countries in Billboard back in 1980. Beautiful song! One of my favorites!

[bugsymalone]

Really, really nice song. I like it a lot, too.

Bugsy

[yogi]

How in the hell could Tommy & JY rip Dennis because of Babe & First Time when on the very same album Tommy puts out Boat On The River and Never Say Never???

The BAND went pop on Cornerstone. It was NOT just Dennis changing directions it was a TOTAL group effort!!!

[sadie65]

I like BOTR quite a bit. For the very reasons I stated in the other thread. It showed a lot of diversity for the band. Not to mention having that really cool accordion in it.

No seriously, a very cool song.

Peace

[yogi]

When Cornerstone was released I was a sophomore in high school. I liked the entire album with the exception of Boat On The River. At the time I thought it was aweful and would always pull the needle up after Never Say Never.

As I aged I got to really like the song. Now I think it is awesome. But back in 1979 that was not the case.

The one other song that I really felt that way about was Triumph's Suitecase Blues. Just A Game was one of my favorite albums back when it was released. But at the time I could not stand that song.

Now I feel it is one of their bests.

Age plays tricks on the ears as well as every other part of the body!!!

[stmonkeys]

The one other song that I really felt that way about was Triumph's Suitecase Blues. Just A Game was one of my favorite albums back when it was released. But at the time I could not stand that song.

Now I feel it is one of their bests.

Age plays tricks on the ears as well as every other part of the body!!!

I LOVE suitcase blues!!!!!! rik does that song so well live it gives me goosebumps. another underrated bluesie (bluesy?) one he does is ordinary man. :::sigh:: so sorry i missed the AC show.

[BlackWall]

Suite, thanks for posting the story on the song. I agree with Tommy, as far as it being cool that Styx embraced doing something a little different.

I also agree with what Dennis has said about not putting limits on creativity. I think the reason that Dennis' songs get a harder time is because some people view them as a way of cashing in. When Tommy wrote something like "Boat On The River" or "Sing For The Day", I doubt he had intended on them even being attempted as singles(especially the former). Starting with "Babe", it could be argued that Dennis found a formula that worked, and decided not to mess with it; giving us a "Best Of Times", "Don't Let It End", and then "Desert Moon", and at least one sure hit on every album. On the other hand, I agree with the logic that Dennis had in changing the direction of the band with "Cornerstone"; groups do need to continue to grow and evolve, but then he ended up playing it safe with the ballads..

Personally, though, I don't really see anything wrong with artists/groups writing material that is radio ready, and attempting to make money. I guess as long as it's something that I can feel, and I get the sense that the writer poured at least an ounce of real emotion into the mix; then what's so bad about something being commercial? I also think it's fair to say that Dennis' heart was probably in just about every one of the hit ballads he had; with the possible exception of "Don't Let It End"(just my opinion). At least Dennis never decided to bring in an outside writer to keep the ballads flowing; with Styx or the solo albums(David Foster and Diane Warren come to mind), especially when his solo albums quit doing so well on the charts.