[2] The song is about the recent breakup of a romantic relationship, with the singer longing to escape her painful emotional bonds.
English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding released a cover version of the song as a single on 14 November 2019 exclusively on Amazon Music.
She said, "Only when I got into my teens did I discover song-writing, that was when I learned the guitar, and I listened to Imogen Heap and Björk, Ani DiFranco and especially Joni Mitchell.
It shows Goulding and her friends picking up litter and recycled objects to make a zero-waste Christmas tree.
Goulding said, "Shooting the video in Dungeness was beautiful but a timely reminder that every single piece of plastic ever made is still on this planet.
"[13] I'm so over the moon that I got the chance to sing such a beautiful song so close to my heart by one of the best songwriters of all time – someone who inspired me greatly for the next album and it makes me so happy that people have also become new Joni fans as a result.
Music industry analysts noted that it reached the top of the charts primarily on the back of passive "lean back" streams; Amazon added the song to their Christmas playlists, meaning that "River" was played whenever someone asked an Amazon Alexa smart speaker to play Christmas songs.
"River" was covered by Barry Manilow on his 2002 album A Christmas Gift of Love with only one verse change involving a gender flip.
[27] In 2006, American jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux recorded it as a duet with k. d. lang for her album Half the Perfect World.
[2] Ben Platt, as his character, Payton Hobart, performed the song during the first episode of the series The Politician (2019),[29] and on the soundtrack associated with the show.
[citation needed] Other artists to cover "River" include Sixpence None the Richer, Travis, Olivia Rodrigo, Tracey Thorn, Lighthouse Family, Weyes Blood, the Indigo Girls, Holly Macve, and Harry Styles.