It has been interpreted as Dylan's account of his writer's block in the early 1970s and of his wish to deliver less politically engaged material and to find a new balance between public and private life.

In 2011, five current and former Rolling Stones appeared on a recording of "Watching the River Flow" as part of a tribute project for pianist Ian Stewart.

[13] Russell assembled a backing group that included Carl Radle on bass, Jesse Ed Davis on guitar, and Jim Keltner on drums.

[14] On the first day in the studio, Dylan, on acoustic guitar and vocals, led the band through a rehearsal jam that included covers of "Spanish Harlem", "That Lucky Old Sun", "I'm A Ladies Man" (Hank Snow), "Blood Red River" (Josh White), and "I'm Alabama Bound" (Lead Belly version).

[11] Jim Keltner has also reported that Dylan wrote the songs at the Blue Rock session quickly: "I remember Bob ... had a pencil and a notepad, and he was writing a lot.

[21] Biographer Clinton Heylin has pointed out that Dylan borrowed the line "If I had wings and I could fly" from the song "The Water is Wide" and words from "Old Man River" for his composition.

[25][26] Joe Schick, the manager of Blue Rock in 1971, has commented that although Dylan and Russell had a reasonably friendly relationship, their rapport was not strong enough to record an album together.

[49] Biographer Robert Shelton wrote that in the early 1970s, Dylan was frequently criticized for "selling out" and that people were pressuring him to go back to his earlier trend of composing protest songs.

[23] Author Seth Rogovoy similarly interpreted the song as Dylan's desire to ignore politics and avoid getting involved in people's disputes.

"[54] He went on to describe how Dylan explores the difficulty of retaining privacy while making public art; the singer is coming to terms with unwanted attention inherent in stardom, without giving up his connection to his fans.

[54] Marcus argued that the reason the single was not a hit in the US was because "the time has passed when people are interested in hearing Bob Dylan say he'll just sit there and watch the river flow ... even though that's not quite what he's saying".

For Ricks, the vocal phrasing and the musical arrangements clash with the lyrics; the "choppy" rhythms and "stroppy stomping" of the backing track, disrupt the theme of contentedly watching the river.

[55] He noted that two of the verses begin with "People disagreeing", introducing conflict into the song, and concluded that "Watching the River Flow" is "tarred with a realism that qualifies and complicates the lure of the lazy".

[16][e] Heylin wrote that both "Watching the River Flow" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece" discuss Dylan's professed lack of inspiration at the time in an honest and satisfying way.

"[59] Ian Bell, in his critical biography of Dylan, wrote that it was "no accident" that both "Watching The River Flow" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece" made much the same statement.

"[60] The musicians who recorded "Watching the River Flow" are:[13][14] Dylan first performed the song live on November 21, 1978, in El Paso, Texas, and again, two days later, in Norman, Oklahoma.