I wanted a really strong finger-picking song. I really like the way a lot of traditional old english folk tunes are structured lyrically, with all the verses the same, but with a changing lead line, so that “singalongs” become easy.

I wrote this song about Portland, OR, a dark rainy northwest town built on the confluence of two rivers, the Willamette (NS) and the Columbia (EW). I lived there in the 90’s, started lifelong friendships, and if I could make a decent living there, I would be there now. The city has a subterranean moodiness and a beautiful melancholy that sunny LA deprives me of. I also had some romantic experiences that have changed me forever. I seem to have written many songs about this place, and the people I knew there.

THIS RIVER         2006 Chuck Lee Bramlet

River winds all through this town
and it loves you just like me
and it loves you just like me
but never sees the day
never sees the day

Rushes out into the sea
and it loves you just like me
and it loves you just like me
but never sees the day
never sees the day

River hides it’s secrets well
and it loves you just like me
and it loves you just like me
but never sees the day
never sees the day

Nobody knows your heart like me
No One knows you in the dark like me

Oh the wind and oh the rain
and it loves you just like me
and it loves you just like me
but never sees the day
never sees the day

Next: Recording This River, working with Aram