Meaning of "The River Runs Low" by Bruce Hornsby And The Range

"The River Runs Low" explores the theme of longing and the emotional impact of someone's absence. The rain symbolizes the narrator's emotions, and the lack of rain since the person left highlights the emotional drought they are experiencing. The hills outside of town being described as brown or golden suggests the desolation and emptiness in the narrator's life without this person. The lines outside the welfare store and the clock stopped at the bank next door reflect the stagnant nature of life without their presence. The reference to the boys leaving home and everyone being gone, including the person they long for, reinforces the sense of emptiness and abandonment. The river running low becomes a metaphor for the narrator's emotional state, with closed eyes on the waterline representing the lack of hope or joy they feel. The repeated mention of the river running low emphasizes the persistence of their longing and the need for the person to return to bring life and vibrancy back into the narrator's existence. The imagery of the old man keeping the morning paper in his overcoat, finding warmth in the cold storm, and telling the narrator they look lonely captures the shared sense of loneliness and longing. The mention of the sky being light to the west of town suggests that there might be hope or a brighter future if the person were to return. The repeated desire to come out there and find the person highlights the narrator's determination to bridge the emotional distance between them. Overall, the song conveys the deep longing and yearning for the return of someone who was once integral to the narrator's happiness and fulfillment.