Billy Joel - River of dreams

First performance: 16/10/2008

Coverinfo

Bruce performed the song only once :

2008-10-16 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, NY
 
"Change Rocks" benefit show for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Bruce first backs John Legend for a song, and then does a pair of solo acoustic songs. Then, after Billy Joel plays "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)" and "Baby Grand" with his daughter Alexa Ray Joel, Bruce, Patti Scialfa and Roy Bittan join Joel and his band for the rest of the set - a mixture of Joel and Springsteen songs. John Legend and India Arie also guest on "Spirit In The Night", "The Rising", and "People Get Ready", plus Stevie Wonder's classic "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" with Barack and Michelle Obama. "River Of Dreams" includes snippets of "A Hard Day's Night" and "Gloria".
 
With John Legend: IF YOU'RE OUT THERE / With Billy Joel and his band, Patti Scialfa, and Roy Bittan : MOVIN' OUT (ANTHONY'S SONG) / A MATTER OF TRUST / ALLENTOWN / NEW YORK STATE OF MIND / RIVER OF DREAMS / PEOPLE GET READY (with John Legend and India Arie) / SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED I'M YOURS (with John Legend, India Arie, and Barack Obama)
 
 
 
    

Songinfo

"The River of Dreams" is a song by American musician Billy Joel. It is the title track and first single from his 1993 album River of Dreams. The song was a hit, making it Joel's highest charting of the 1990s (River of Dreams was the only album he released during the 1990s). IAt least four versions of the song have been recorded and released. Two versions (released years later) include a bridge section containing a piano interlude paralleling Joel's melody from his song "Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)," which is from the same album. These versions can be found on the boxed sets My Lives and Complete Hits Collection: 1973-1999 - but even these versions differ from each other, both in length and in arrangement: one, for instance, has more percussion. A fourth mix appears as a bonus cut on the UK CD single of "River of Dreams" — the "percapella mix" done by Nicolo.
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

Billy Joel on Bruce Springsteen :
 
Bruce and Billy Joel are long time friends : Joel’s favorite song 
 
Billy Joel performed 12 times together with Bruce
 
 
 
2018-07-18 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
2012-11-02 Rockefeller Center, GE Building, Studio 6A, New York City, NY
2011-10-01 Beacon Theatre, New York City, NY
2009-10-29 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
2008-10-16 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, NY
1999-03-15 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, NY
1995-04-12 Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY
1992-11-10 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
1988-01-20 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, NY
1987-12-13 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
1974-12-14 Auditorium, New Brunswick, NJ 
 

Lyrics

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
From the mountains of faith
To a river so deep
I must be looking for something
Something sacred I lost
But the river is wide
And it's too hard to cross

And even though I know the river is wide
I walk down every evening and I stand on the shore
And try to cross to the opposite side
So I can finally find out what I've been looking for

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the valley of fear
To a river so deep
And I've been searching for something
Taken out of my soul
Something I would never lose
Something somebody stole

I don't know why I go walking at night
But now I'm tired and I don't want to walk anymore
I hope it doesn't take the rest of my life
Until I find what it is that I've been looking for

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the jungle of doubt
To a river so deep
I know I'm searching for something
Something so #ff0000
That it can only be seen
By the eyes of the blind
In the middle of the night

I'm not sure about a life after this
God knows I've never been a spiritual man
Baptized by the fire, I wade into the river
That runs to the promised land
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the desert of truth
To the river so deep
We all end in the ocean
We all start in the streams
We're all carried along
By the river of dreams
In the middle of the night