Austin and Elliott: Listening Library

River Rushes By (Rose Garden 2010 Demo)

(Chris Elliott, Unreleased)

Chris Elliott

Here's the demo selected by the Rose Garden Coffeehouse as a finalist in their 2010 songwriting contest. The idea is based on/adapted from W.H. Auden's "As I Went Out One Evening."

On the bridge a young man and a girl
Were whispering as if love will last forever
I'll love you till there's tigers in the pines
Till the lion and the lamb lie down together
Till the blue fish swallows the ocean
Till the moon comes rolling down the mountain
Till seconds stop and the moment is our own

The bells in the church yard chimed
Love, love all you want
You cannot conquer time
The bells in the church yard chimed
Run, run all you want
The river rushes by
The river rushes by

The echo of the chiming seemed to say
Your love is doomed, doomed to be forgotten
Your love is only harvest on the vine
It may go into wine, it may go rotten
A moment belongs to no one
Huddled close the couple couldn't listen
In need of silence I hurried down the road

The bells in the church yard chimed
Love, love all you want
You cannot conquer time
The bells in the church yard chimed
Run, run all you want
The river rushes by
The bells in the church yard chimed
You cannot conquer time
The bells in the church yard chimed
Run, run all you want
The river rushes by
The river rushes by
The river rushes by
The river rushes by