Bruce Hornsby, The Range - Across The River

5:00 O'Clock PM on a Monday afternoon and for my last Music Interlude I selected a song by Bruce Hornsby and the Range titled "Across The River"...

I wasn't quite sure how to take this songs lyrics, so I checked it out... Here is one person's comments on it:

"I believe it's even deeper and - at the same time - less specific. The girl's longing and dream is not necessarily Hollywood, but likely something she perceives as better, higher, more worthwhile, and certainly not just making (more) money. The narrator observes that she came back 35 weeks ago, nearly the term of a pregnancy, perhaps intimating that she went away with high hopes, got taken advantage of, got pregnant, and had to come home without achieving whatever it was she left for. The idle talk of those who observed that she's come back with her tail between her legs, "like they always said she would" speaks to the small minds, mean spirits, and petty jealousies of those who don't want someone they perceive as thinking they're "better than we are" bettering themselves. Bruce's observation and response is one of faith and assurance to the girl, and to himself, that "Some Fine Day" both of them can make it to success and escape from the morass of negativity and small mindedness that tends to suck them down."- SongMeanings...

Here is another comment:
"Bruce Hornsby struck gold again with this hit, again telling a story from his perspective. This time, it's about a beautiful, strong-willed southern girl who determines to leave her boring, small-town life behind, to the disapproval of her uptight family and neighbors. However, everyone expects that she will be unable to cope in the cosmopolitan outside world and return. This continues even after she leaves."

LYRICS:

"Across The River" by Bruce Hornsby & The Range

Then she moved back around here
Thirty-five weeks ago today
Oh down the lane
At night she walks on the banks
And remembers how she dreamed of rowing away
And how she left one day
She left with a driven look in her eyes
Came back around with it still inside
They said give it some time and you'll forget about it too
We know they always do
Well I know

Some fine day
You will find your way across the river
Across the river
Row down slow
And there's a long way to go
Across the river
Across the river

She was proud and so strong
But she tried not to listen to idle talk
Downtown where she walked
Well, they sit around and they say
That she came back with her tail between her legs
Like they always said she would

Well I hear it's better on the other side
They say you'll never do it so don't even try
Well you may be beaten down with your closed mind
But don't try and make it mine
Well I know

Some fine day
You will find your way across the river
Across the river
Row down slow
And there's a long way to go
Across the river
Across the river

Your wild days are through is what they said
I dreamed she came, when I was down
And I walked where she led

Standing on the shore
She looks to the west with a look of longing
Where the grass seems greener
But there's a hard and distant prize
It probably won't happen but I think I'll try
Well even if it doesn't happen for me
It still beats hanging 'bout here
Well I know

Some fine day
You will find your way across the river
Across the river
Row down slow
And there's a long long way to go
Across the river
Across the river

River
Won't cross the river

Across the river
Across the river
Long long way
Across the river
Across the river

Have a great evening my Brothers and Sisters...