Songfacts®:

• When the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota began protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline that would jeopardize the reservation's water supply in 2016, several musicians were moved by their plight, especially after learning the peaceful protesters were being threatened with violence.
  
  Raye Zaragoza, an unknown folk-pop artist of Japanese, Mexican, and Native American descent, was one of them. She wrote the protest song "In The River" in solidarity with the movement and released a video of herself performing the tune in the desert and introducing facts about Standing Rock. The clip, shot by her brother, thrust her into the national spotlight as a social-justice singer.
  
  "I felt that I found my voice in that movement, and I really was woken up to so many things," Zaragoza told Broadview. "I want to spend my whole life, my art and my voice and my songs, fighting this injustice."
• Zaragoza said she was inspired to write the song after listening to different testimonials of the tribe's people.
  
  "Hearing them speak of their concern for their children and the generations to come. The more and more I read about what is happening in North Dakota, the more it breaks my heart," she explained upon the video's release. "I am Native myself, Pima, and will do whatever I can to support the Standing Rock Sioux. Any threat to water is a threat to all of us. I wanted to see what I could do to help, and this video is a start."
• Like the protest singers who came before her, Zaragoza believes that music can change the world.
  
  "I truly believe that music can be the voice of change, the voice of a generation," she said. "So many musicians in history have been a part of civil rights movements, and have helped huge changes in history. The vibrations of music have the power to hold someone's attention, and if you use that to get the word out about important issues - it can be so powerful. I hope people will like my song, and through that - listen to the message. And support the cause."
• The Dakota Access Pipeline protests also inspired songs by Lamb of God ("Routes "), John Legend ("Love Me Now ") and Andra Day ("Stand Up For Something").
• Although Zaragoza is serious about her art and the causes she addresses through it, she makes fun a priority, especially in times of struggle - a message she shares on her 2023 single "Joy Revolution."
• This was included on Zaragoza's 2017 debut album, Fight For You, which contains more songs related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.