You, Me & The River

Album: All In (2022)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, Chris Janson recounts the demise of his cheating romantic partner and her lover. Eric Church wrote the murder ballad and duets with Janson on it.
  • When Janson met Church during an all-star tribute to ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons at the Grand Ole Opry House in 2021, they bonded and became fishing buddies. Their connection led Church to send Janson a rough demo that landed in his inbox as he flew back from Whitefish, Montana. Janson recalled to Billboard that he landed at 3 a.m., pulled out his phone and saw Church had sent him a voice memo and song. He said, "Hey, this is a little bit dark, but I wanted to see what you think." Janson listened to the demo, loved it, and suggested they do it as a duet.

    "I thought he would say no," Janson continued, "but he immediately texted back, 'I'm in.'"
  • When Janson recorded "You, Me & the River" for All In, it became the first song he cut for a major-label album that he didn't have a hand in writing.
  • Janson and Church ended up collaborating on another All In track, "Flag On The Wall." That one is a co-write between the two where they went back and forth on the phone hashing out lyrics.
  • Janson and Church play out the song's sinister storyline during the black-and-white visual. "It's kind of Ozark-ish," Janson said of the clip. "We're both acting in the video, and it's shot so wonderfully, it's not even like a music video, it's more like a movie."

    Church's go-to visual collaborator Reid Long directed the video. Long received an ACM Award for Video of the Year for "Mr. Misunderstood."
  • That's Chris Janson playing the harmonica. The country star first picked up the instrument as a way to boost tips when he was playing in Nashville's nightclubs.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root

Michael Glabicki of Rusted RootSongwriter Interviews

Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.

Colbie Caillat

Colbie CaillatSongwriter Interviews

Since emerging from MySpace with her hit "Bubbly," Colbie has become a top songwriter, even crafting a hit with Taylor Swift.

Eric Burdon

Eric BurdonSongwriter Interviews

The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

John Waite

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New York

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New YorkSong Writing

Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.