Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, RDI (born Brian Pet… Read Full Bio ↴Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, RDI (born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is an English musician, record producer, visual artist, and theorist best known for his pioneering work in ambient music and contributions to rock, pop, and electronica. A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unique conceptual approaches and recording techniques to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures.

Born in Suffolk, Eno studied painting and experimental music at the art school of Ipswich Civic College in the mid 1960s, and then at Winchester School of Art. He joined glam rock group Roxy Music as synthesiser player in 1971. After recording two albums with Roxy Music, he departed in 1973 to record a number of solo albums, coining the term "ambient music" to describe his work on releases such as Another Green World (1975), Discreet Music (1975), and Music for Airports (1978). He also collaborated with artists such as Robert Fripp, Cluster, Harold Budd, David Bowie on his "Berlin Trilogy", and David Byrne, and produced albums by artists including John Cale, Jon Hassell, Laraaji, Talking Heads and Devo, and the no wave compilation No New York (1978).

Eno has continued to record solo albums and work with artists including U2, Laurie Anderson, Grace Jones, Slowdive, Coldplay, James Blake, and Damon Albarn. Dating back to his time as a student, he has also worked in media including sound installations and his mid-70s co-development of Oblique Strategies, a deck of cards featuring cryptic aphorisms intended to spur creative thinking. From the 1970s onwards, Eno's installations have included the sails of the Sydney Opera House in 2009 and the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in 2016. An advocate of a range of humanitarian causes, Eno writes on a variety of subjects and is a founding member of the Long Now Foundation. In 2019, Eno was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.

Eno is frequently referred to as one of popular music's most influential artists. Producer and film composer Jon Brion has said: "I think he's the most influential artist since the Beatles." Critic Jason Ankeny at AllMusic argues that Eno "forever altered the ways in which music is approached, composed, performed, and perceived, and everything from punk to techno to new age bears his unmistakable influence." Eno has spread his techniques and theories primarily through his production; his distinctive style informed a number of projects in which he has been involved, including Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy" (helping to popularize minimalism) and the albums he produced for Talking Heads (incorporating, on Eno's advice, African music and polyrhythms), Devo, and other groups. Eno's first collaboration with David Byrne, 1981's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, pioneered sampling techniques that would prove to be influential in hip-hop, and broke ground by incorporating world music into popular Western music forms. Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies have been used by many bands, and Eno's production style has proven influential in several general respects: "his recording techniques have helped change the way that modern musicians;– particularly electronic musicians;– view the studio. No longer is it just a passive medium through which they communicate their ideas but itself a new instrument with seemingly endless possibilities."

Whilst inspired by the ideas of minimalist composers including John Cage, Terry Riley and Erik Satie, Eno coined the term ambient music to describe his own work and defined the term. The Ambient Music Guide states that he has brought from "relative obscurity into the popular consciousness" fundamental ideas about ambient music, including "the idea of modern music as subtle atmosphere, as chill-out, as impressionistic, as something that creates space for quiet reflection or relaxation." His groundbreaking work in electronic music has been said to have brought widespread attention to and innovations in the role of electronic technology in recording. Pink Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright said he "often eulogised" Eno's abilities.

Eno's "unconventional studio predilections", in common with those of Peter Gabriel, were an influence on the recording of "In the Air Tonight", the single which launched the solo career of Eno's former drummer Phil Collins. Collins said he "learned a lot" from working with Eno. Both Half Man Half Biscuit (in the song "Eno Collaboration" on the EP of the same name) and MGMT have written songs about Eno. LCD Soundsystem has frequently cited Eno as a key influence. The Icelandic singer Björk also credited Eno as a major influence.

Mora sti Fotia (Babies on Fire), one of the most influential Greek rock bands, was named after Eno's song "Baby's on Fire".

In 2011, Belgian academics from the Royal Museum for Central Africa named a species of Afrotropical spider Pseudocorinna brianeno in his honour.

The River
Brian Eno Lyrics

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Here we are
Stuck by this river
You and I
Underneath a sky that's ever falling down, down, down
Ever falling down

Through the day
As if on an ocean

Waiting here
Always failing to remember why we came, came, came
I wonder why we came

You talk to me
As if from a distance
And I reply

With impressions chosen from another time, time, time
From another time

Overall Meaning

Brian Eno's "By This River" is a song that captures a feeling of being lost, stuck, and disconnected. The opening lines, "Here we are, stuck by this river, you and I" immediately set the tone for the rest of the song. The lyrics suggest that the singers are simply waiting and not doing anything productive with their time. The metaphor of an ever-falling sky is used to create a sense of hopelessness and despair, further adding to the negative emotions expressed in the song.

Eno then uses the metaphor of an ocean to represent the passage of time. The singers are lost at sea and do not recall why they came. The lyrics suggest that the singers' lives have become aimless and that they are just drifting aimlessly. Eno's repetition of "came" highlights the fact that their lack of purpose has left them feeling unfulfilled.

The final lines of the song suggest a sense of disconnectedness between the two speakers. They speak as though from different times, emphasizing the fact that they have drifted apart from one another. The lyrics make it clear that the singers have become alienated from one another, possibly due to their shared disillusionment with life.

Overall, "By This River" is a melancholy and introspective song that captures a sense of ennui and feelings of disconnection that many people experience in life.

Line by Line Meaning

Here we are
We find ourselves in this particular situation

Stuck by this river
Trapped near this body of water

You and I
We are together in this circumstance

Underneath a sky that's ever falling down, down, down
Beneath a sky that seems to be continuously collapsing

Ever falling down
Continuously collapsing

Through the day
During the daylight hours

As if on an ocean
As if drifting on the sea

Waiting here
Remaining in this location

Always failing to remember why we came, came, came
Never able to recall why we ended up here

I wonder why we came
I am curious as to why we are here

You talk to me
You speak to me