River (song)
| River | |
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.svg){kind=small} feat. Ed Sheeran
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| publication | 15th December 2017 |
| length | 3:41 |
| Genre (s) | Hip-hop , pop-rap |
| text |
M. Mathers , E. Sheeran , E. Haynie |
| music | Emile Haynie |
| album | revival |
River ( English for " river ") is a song by the American rapper Eminem , in which the chorus is sung by the British singer Ed Sheeran . The song is the third single from his ninth studio album Revival and was released on December 15, 2017, simultaneously with the album.
content
River is about a love affair in which both partners cheat, with the woman (Suzanne) becoming pregnant from their affair and ultimately having an abortion. Eminem and Ed Sheeran take on the role of Suzanne's affair as the lyrical self .
Ed Sheeran sings in the chorus that he is a liar and a deceiver who would like to wash away his sins in the waters of the holy river. The first stanza is about how Suzanne's partner comes home with scratch marks after an affair . Suzanne, who is monitoring her partner, notices this and decides to take revenge by cheating on him too. So she writes to another man on the Internet. He has reservations because he knows that he is only used by her to take revenge, but in the end both sleep together. In the second verse, Eminem raps that the one-night stand turned into an affair and as a result, the significant other separated from Suzanne. He too now wants to end the love affair, but does not know how to teach her. He feels particularly guilty that they didn't use contraception and that Suzanne is now pregnant by him and is expecting a daughter. In the last verse, he finally persuades her to abort their child because his life is chaotic enough. Still, he has a remorse for having loved his child's smile.
production
The beat of the song was produced by the American music producer Emile Haynie.
Music video
The music video for River was shot by British director Emil Nava and premiered on February 14, 2018. It is almost seven minutes long.
In terms of content, the video is based on the text of the song. So the relationship between Eminem and his lover who is cheating on her partner is central. While Eminem raps the first verse, one sees an argument between his affair and their partner. In the second verse, Eminem spends time with his lover, but there is also a dispute after he learns of her pregnancy. Finally both of them stand alone in the rain during the third verse. At the beginning and end, as well as after each refrain, interviews with the protagonists and dialogues between Eminem and his affair are played in the form of home videos. Ed Sheeran is not involved in the main plot, he sings the chorus sometimes sitting on a chair and sometimes standing in the rain.
single
Cover design
The single cover shows a distorted excerpt from the music video for the song. A person is sitting on a chair in a room with notes scattered on the floor. At the top of the picture is the black lettering Eminem Ft. Ed Sheeran and in the center is the title River in white.
Chart successes
River entered the German charts at number three on December 22, 2017 and seven weeks later reached the highest position with number two. The song topped the charts in Great Britain, Sweden, Norway and Austria, while it took second place in Switzerland, Finland, Ireland and Australia. River ranked 17th in the German annual charts for 2018 .
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Awards
In 2020, River was awarded a double platinum record in the UK for more than 1.2 million copies sold . In Germany, it received a gold record for over 200,000 sales in 2018 .
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
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 Australia (ARIA)
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 3 × platinum
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210,000 |
 Belgium (BEA)
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platinum
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30,000 |
 Brazil (PMB)
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platinum
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40,000 |
 Denmark (IFPI)
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platinum
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90,000 |
 Germany (BVMI)
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 gold
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200,000 |
 France (SNEP)
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platinum
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200,000 |
 Italy (FIMI)
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platinum
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50,000 |
 Canada (MC)
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platinum
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80,000 |
 New Zealand (RMNZ)
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platinum
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30,000 |
 Norway (IFPI)
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platinum
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10,000 |
 Austria (IFPI)
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platinum
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30,000 |
 Portugal (AFP)
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gold
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5,000 |
 Sweden (IFPI)
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2 × platinum
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80,000 |
 United Kingdom (BPI)
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2 × platinum
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1,200,000 |
| All in all |
2 × gold 16 × platinum |
2,255,000 |
Main article: Eminem / Music Sales Awards
Web links
- Lyrics with interpretations (English)
- Lyrics (German)
- Song on YouTube.com
- Music video on YouTube.com
swell
- ↑ Lyrics
- ↑ music video
- ↑ Single cover
- ↑ Chart tracking River on officialcharts.de
- ↑ International chart tracking River
- ↑ German annual charts 2018
- ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ Annual charts 2018: DE
- ↑ Annual charts 2018: AT
- ↑ Annual charts 2018: CH
- ↑ Annual charts 2018: UK
- ↑ UK: 2x platinum
- ↑ DE: Gold
| Studio albums |
Infinite • The Slim Shady LP • The Marshall Mathers LP • The Eminem Show • Encore • Relapse • Recovery • The Marshall Mathers LP 2 • Revival • Kamikaze • Music to Be Murdered By |
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| Extended plays |
Slim Shady EP • Hell: The Sequel |
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| Soundtracks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Compilation albums |
The Singles • Curtain Call: The Hits |
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| Video albums |
The Up in Smoke Tour • E • All Access Europe • Eminem Presents: The Anger Management Tour • Live from New York City |
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| Label sampler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Singles |
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| Featurings |
Dead Wrong • Forgot About Dre • The Watcher • Rock City • Hellbound • One Day at a Time (Em's Version) • Welcome 2 Detroit • Smack That • Drop the World • Roman's Revenge • That's All She Wrote • I Need a Doctor • Writer's Block • Throw That • My Life • C'mon Let Me Ride • Calm Down • Twerk Dat Pop That! • Best Friend • Speedom (WWC2) • The Hills Remix • Caterpillar • Homicide • Bang |
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| Splits |