# What's this song called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 20, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-song-called/119974 "2002-07-20T15:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-song-called/119974/1 "2002-07-20T15:26:44Z")
It’s a slow song, plays on Classic rock stations, has a title of 3 or 4 words, two of which may be “river” and/or “tears”. It is just one guy singing, and has a lot of violins and/or cellos in the background, and a short orchestral interlude before the last stanza… It’s kind of a “wailing” song, by which the guy sings by singing the words in the lines, and drawing out the last word in the sentence, changing it’s tone up and down as it’s drawn out… For those of you living in Ottawa and who listen to Chez 106, it was on last night around 22:30 or later… Anyone have any suggestions what it might be? I have googled for nearly 2 hours now, and can’t seem to find it. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-song-called/119974/2 "2002-07-20T16:28:48Z")
Just a shot in the dark… It couldn’t be ‘River of Dreams’ by Billy Joel could it? ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-song-called/119974/3 "2002-07-20T21:09:44Z")
Nope… Not that one. This one is much slower, and lacks a dancy-type beat to it… Thanks for suggesting though. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-song-called/119974/4 "2002-07-20T22:30:42Z")
Your description of the song sounds like “Atlantic City” by Bruce Springsteen, except for the lyrics. He has several other songs, though, with rivers and tears in them. ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-song-called/119974/5 "2002-07-21T01:45:24Z")
Ok gang, thanks for the suggestions. It was actually “As tears go by” by the rolling stonbes… The stones? I would never have guessed… I listened to the station all day until it played again.