Lowell George “Find A River“ (1979)

“Find A River“ is a song from ’Thanks, I’ll Eat It Here’ - the only solo album by the late singer-songwriter Lowell George. While George is best known for his work with Little Feat, by 1977 Lowell felt that they were moving increasingly into jazz-rock, a form in which he felt little interest. As a result, he began working on his own album. ’Thanks, I’ll Eat It Here’ is an eclectic mix of styles reminiscent of Little Feat’s earlier albums - in particular Dixie Chicken, on which the track Two Trains originally appeared. The album was released just before the death of Lowell George in 1979 and has cover art by Neon Park (a feature of almost all Little Feat albums) containing several pop-/cult references including a picnic scene, mirroring Édouard Manet’s “Le déjeuner sur l’herbe“, which shows Bob Dylan, Fidel Castro and Marlene Dietrich as Der Blaue Engel with an open copy of Howl beside them. Lyrics (Fred Tackett) Oh I wanna find a river And take it down to the sea And drift on by so slowly Oh if you think about me You know you could help me through You know I would return in kind Oh I wanna find a city That’s open wide That’s open all night Where I could not hide From it’s burnin’ light So warm, so bright Let me run so free and easily Shelter me with its sweet mysteries Oh Lord, Oh Lord, Oh Lord Oh I wanna find a city Oh I wanna find my baby But I do not know where she lies And I do not know if she cries Or laughs at me Oh Lord, Oh Lord, Oh Lord I wanna find my baby Oh I wanna find a river