"If I Was a River" is a song written by

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Wa ...

and included on the international version of Australian singer

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

's fourth studio album, '' In Deep'' (1997). It is the second Warren song performed by Arena, following 1989's "

Strong as Steel ''Strong as Steel'' is the second studio album by Australian pop music, pop singer Tina Arena, released in 1990 by EMI. Album information The album has a very light tone and a pop rock feel to it compared to Arena's subsequent albums, which we ...

". The track was aimed at promoting ''In Deep'' in the United States. Lyrically, the song is a metaphoric declaration to a loved one, in which Tina Arena lists all the things she would do for them if she were various elements, planets or weather phenomena, including the titular river. The song was one of 10 singles released from the many incarnations of ''In Deep''; overall, it was the album's seventh. Released as the final single from the album in the United Kingdom, "If I Was a River" peaked at number 43 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In 2000, "If I Was a River" was released as a single in Japan, alongside four remixes of the track, commissioned for club play in the United States, where they were only made available on vinyl to disc-jockeys. The rarity of the Japanese release makes it a much sought-after item. The song was later included on the compilation albums ''

Souvenirs A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

'' and ''

Greatest Hits 1994-2004 Greatest may refer to: * ''Greatest!'', a 1959 album by Johnny Cash * ''Bee Gees Greatest'', a 1979 album by Bee Gees * ''Greatest'' (The Go-Go's album), 1990 * ''Greatest'' (Duran Duran album), 1998 * Greatest (song), a song by Eminem * "Greate ...

.''

Track listings

UK CD1 # "If I Was a River" # "Any Other Love" # "Chains" UK CD2 # "If I Was a River" (long version) # "Welcome to My World" # "Stay" Japanese CD single # "If I Was a River" (album version) # "If I Was a River" (7--inch vocal mix) # "If I Was a River" (Nikolas & Sibley Rising Dub) # "If I Was a River" (Ny:pd radio edit) # "If I Was a River" (Ny:pd club remix)

Personnel

: lead vocals, background vocals *

: songwriter *

Walter Afanasieff Walter Afanasieff (born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasyev; February 10, 1958), formerly nicknamed Baby Love in the 1980s, is an American record producer and songwriter of Russian-Chinese descent. He was a collaborator with Mariah Carey on her first ...

: producer, arranger, keyboards, drum programming, synthesizers, Moog synth bass,

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the early 1 ...

programming * Dan Shea: additional keyboards, drum programming, synthesizer programming,

MacIntosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

programming *

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher ...

: acoustic guitar *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitch ...

, Michael Thompson: electric guitars * Alex Brown,

Jim Gilstrap James Earl Gilstrap (born November 10, 1946)''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American singer, considered one of the most prolific session musicians in the industry. He is best known for ...

, Lynn Davis, Phillip Ingram, Jeanie Tracy, Karen Brewington,

Claytoven Richardson Claytoven Richardson (born 1956, in Berkeley, California) is an American singer, instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, and author. Biography Born Clayton D. Richardson on May 23, 1956. Larry Batiste, a childhood friend (and later business pa ...

, Skyler Jett, Sandy Griffith: background vocals

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Tina Arena songs 1997 songs 1998 singles Columbia Records singles Epic Records singles Song recordings produced by Walter Afanasieff Songs written by Diane Warren