Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: Hello there. Welcome back to the Nathans and Ron cast the podcast about the song craft and musicianship behind the Music we love. We're going to do something really interesting right now. We're going to give you some bonus content. This is Craig Bichard's song Men and Rivers, written about a flood in Nashville.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: Well, and before we start, let's have Craig introduce, you know, what inspired this song. I know it's part of a bigger project idea, possibly for sometime in the next three years, but I've heard stories about this and you've told a few different stories at shows.
What inspired this specific song, Men and Rivers?
[00:00:49] Speaker C: Aaron mentioned the flood in Nashville. That was back in. I think it was May 1st and 2nd of 2010. And I had left Nashville there, but my daughter was still there, and I really didn't know what was going on. She called me and she said, dad, we're in the parking lot of Walmart and we can't get out of the parking lot. The water's rising everywhere. There's a flood going on. I can see all the cars parked on the interstate and we don't know what's happening, but what should I do? And I said, well, I'm in Pennsylvania and you're in Nashville, so you need to get off the phone with me and see if you can get in touch with someone through 911 or whatever. And while I was waiting to hear back from her, I did really the only thing I could think to do because it took about three hours to get a phone call back from her.
I wrote a song. So I was thinking about all of the interactions between humans and rivers. We need rivers.
We have industry and shipping on the rivers and hydroelectric power from the rivers and used to be transportation and trade. We discovered America on the rivers. It just seemed like a really rich relationship, but it's perilous. We're constantly dealing with floods, not always on rivers. I mean, recently we had this hurricane that caused flooding in the mountains based around smaller rivers and water sources. So just the idea that we need to have this relationship with nature through rivers seemed like a really intriguing idea. And of course, the emotion in this completely came from the fact that I was worried about my daughter, her safety, and she had her daughter, my eldest granddaughter, with her at the time. So I was really upset about what was going on, not hearing back from her, worrying what would happen. I'd start to get in this panic and what can I do? What can I do? Oh, just write another verse, you know, and that's how I got through that little period. So that's what it's about. It's just about the relationship. And by the way, men in Rivers, I'm always referring to mankind in rivers. It was not just men.
And when I say it live and I introduce the song, I say Men in Rivers. But that's not like the company. Men in.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: Well, it's a beautiful song all around and I love listening to the lyrics and trying to. We talked about sometimes musicians around you can highlight certain things.
[00:03:10] Speaker C: Oh, you do in that song. You actually play some wonderful stuff in that song that really enhances the lyrics.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: And it has the fingers, the melodies that go along with the guitar and it's a conversation. So let's go ahead and play it. And like we said, this is a little bonus episode. We wanted to share this with you. This is the Nathan's and Ron cast. And here is Men in Rivers, performed by Craig Bickhart.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: Here it is.
[00:03:54] Speaker D: Ever since hands could build since dreams could float They've been shoving off together in a wooden boat Fathers and sons casting lines together that's the bond between men and rivers There were gamblers and girls Good old Mark Twain Big wheels From the Gulf coast to the Illinois plain Here's to the Hug fins and the young Tom Sawyers that's the romance of men and rivers Carrying rumors of gold in the pan we follow these veins all over this land the rugged risk takers the rolling reward givers that's the story of men and rivers Men and rivers Ever since rain could fall since floods could rise We've been kneeling in mud and cursing the sky but some hang on because they aren't quitters that's the measure of men and rivers Bold hearts like Lewis and Clark map the West Trappers and loggers and poets the rest black Black Southern preachers who baptize the sinners all touch the spirits of men and rivers Men and rivers Ever since hands could build since dreams could float They've been shoving off together in a wooden boat Fathers and sons casting lines together that's the bond between men and rivers Men and rivers Manam.
