Peter Breinholt Biogr… Read Full Bio ↴From the artists Press description on his website.
Peter Breinholt Biography
Songwriter Peter Breinholt has been delighting audiences with his self-styled acoustic music for more than a decade. He has sold out every major concert hall in his home state of Utah many times over, including Kingsbury Hall, The Tuacahn Red Rock Amphitheater, The Sundance Amphitheater, Thanksgiving Point, the de Jong Concert Hall, among others. His credits also include six albums, a concert DVD, guitar songbooks, film scores, Pearl Awards, songwriting awards, and concerts with several symphony orchestras and choirs, including the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Here's how it all began: Born in Pennsylvania, Peter taught himself to play piano and guitar. Around the age of 11 he began writing his own songs. Later, as a college student in Utah, he was persuaded to rent a Salt Lake recording studio and track some of his compositions. Never doing more than two takes during those sessions, the resulting recording is raw and unpolished, which may be one reason the album proved so successful. "It became an underground classic on Utah college campuses" wrote Salt Lake Magazine. The album eventually became one of the best-selling, independently released CDs ever in the state, almost entirely by word of mouth. "If you haven't heard of Peter Breinholt" the Event Magazine wrote of it's success, "you've been out in the frigid cold. He's the closest thing Utah has to a music phenomenon." Since then, his music has spread around the globe, seemingly by itself. He has performed everywhere from New York to Los Angeles, from Spokane to San Antonio. You can find more information at his website at www.peterbreinholt.com.
River Song
Peter Breinholt Lyrics
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On the day they went to war
And my father was a hero
But he never did say more
Keep my head above the ground
Singing songs and selling flowers
And living out in this old town
Hi li li li li
Whoa whoa whoa
Hi li li li li li
Now I can think of different stories
That I used to hear at night
As we worked out in the old fields
In the twighlight of our lives
At night I dreamt I saw a mountain
And a river and a sea
I dreamt of 50,000 people
And they were smiling back at me
Hi li li li li
Whoa whoa whoa
Hi li li li li li
Way down beneath the trees
A village fast asleep
I think that I belong there
Now I can still see that old river
See it shine a million miles
Through the heart of Saranida
To the banks of wide canal
And I have always loved that river
I like the way it moves so slow
And I think I'm like that river
A place to wonder and to roam
Hi li li li li
Whoa whoa whoa
Hi li li li li li
The song "River Song" by Peter Breinholt embodies a sense of longing and nostalgia for home and simpler times. The lyrics depict a protagonist who reminisces about his father's heroism, his own life as a flower-seller in an old town, and the stories he used to hear in the fields of his youth. The singer dreams of a mountain, a river, a sea, and many smiling people. He also speaks of his love for a river, how it moves so slow, and how it reflects his own life as a place to wander and roam.
The song seems to be about home and the comfort of the familiar. It speaks to the human desire for a place or a time where one belongs and is happy, a place where one is surrounded by friends and family. Through the lyrics, we get the sense that the singer is searching for his own meaning and purpose, but is grounded by the river, which is a constant symbol of his own life.
In summary, "River Song" is a beautifully written song about nostalgia, the love of home, and finding oneself. The river symbolizes both the singer's wanderlust and his groundedness, and the song encourages us to embrace the beauty of the simple things in life.
Line by Line Meaning
I held my own in de Janeiro
I was able to do well for myself in Rio de Janeiro
On the day they went to war
During the time when people were fighting a war
And my father was a hero
My dad was a brave person who did something admirable
But he never did say more
He didn't elaborate on what he did to become a hero
And me I'm just a lonely high guy
I'm a person who often feels alone and is affected by drugs
Keep my head above the ground
Trying to stay alive and get through tough times
Singing songs and selling flowers
My way of earning a living involves making music and selling plants
And living out in this old town
I reside in this ancient district
Now I can think of different stories
At this point in my life I can recall various tales
That I used to hear at night
Stories I would listen to when the day was done
As we worked out in the old fields
While we were laboring in the farmland
In the twighlight of our lives
During the later years of our existence
At night I dreamt I saw a mountain
During the night I saw an image in my mind of a tall landform
And a river and a sea
Also there was a long waterway and an immense body of saltwater
I dreamt of 50,000 people
In the dream, I saw a massive crowd of 50,000 individuals
And they were smiling back at me
They were happy to see me and smiled in my direction
Way down beneath the trees
Far below the trees, deep in the woods
A village fast asleep
There was a town that was soundly sleeping
I think that I belong there
I feel like I'm meant to be part of that village
Now I can still see that old river
Even now, I can visualize that waterway
See it shine a million miles
The river sparkles so strongly that it seems to shine brightly for a million miles
Through the heart of Saranida
The river flows through the center of a place called Saranida
To the banks of wide canal
The river eventually reaches the sides of a vast watercourse
And I have always loved that river
Throughout my life, I have felt a strong fondness for that river
I like the way it moves so slow
I appreciate the fact that the river flows at a leisurely pace
And I think I'm like that river
I believe that I share similarities with that river
A place to wonder and to roam
Like the river, I'm a locale where others can be curious and explore
Contributed by Elijah V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.