"River of Deceit" is a song by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Mad Season, released in 1995 as the first single from the band's only studio album, '' Above'' (1995). The song reached number two on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart and is the band's most well known song.

Origin and recording

The music for "River of Deceit" came out of rehearsals that the group had before vocalist

Layne Staley Layne Thomas Staley (born Layne Rutherford Staley; August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002) was an American musician, songwriter and the original lead singer of the rock band Alice in Chains, which rose to international fame in the early 1990s as part ...

joined the band.

Lyrics

Much of "River of Deceit", lyrically, was inspired by the 1923 book ''

The Prophet A prophet is a person who is believed to speak through divine inspiration. Prophet or The Prophet may also refer to: People People referred to as "The Prophet" as a title * The Prophet (musician) (born 1968), Dutch gabber and hardstyle DJ ...

'' by

Khalil Gibran Gibran Khalil Gibran ( ar, جُبْرَان خَلِيل جُبْرَان, , , or , ; January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931), usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran (pronounced ), was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist ...

, which Staley read during the making of the album. Drummer

Barrett Martin Barrett Martin (born April 14, 1967) is an American record producer, percussionist, writer, and ethnomusicologist from Washington. As a producer he has won one Latin Grammy and has been nominated in two other categories. As an ethnomusicologist ...

said, "Layne Staley felt as though he was on a spiritual mission through his music. Not a rock mission, a spiritual mission." Staley also wrote the song partially about his drug addiction which would eventually lead to his death in 2002.

Release and reception

The single for "River of Deceit" was released to radio across North America, Europe, and the world. "River of Deceit" became the most successful song from ''Above'' on the American rock charts. The song peaked at number two on the ''Billboard''

chart and number nine on the ''Billboard''

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. It would go on to become the band's most well-known song as it received substantial radio play throughout the 1990s. Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the song reached the top 70 on the Canadian

Singles Chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

, and later it charted on the Canadian Alternative Top 30 chart where it reached number eight.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "River of Deceit" was directed by

Josh Taft Josh Taft is an American music video director. He has directed music videos for Alice in Chains ("Would?"), Stone Temple Pilots ("Sex Type Thing", "Plush", and " Lady Picture Show"), Nas (" The World Is Yours"), A Tribe Called Quest ("Award T ...

. The

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

video features the band performing the song amid scenes of people engaged in various activities. It is the only music video the band released. The video can be found at the end of the concert video, '' Live at the Moore''.

Live performances

"River of Deceit" was first performed live at the band's October 12, 1994 concert in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

at the

Crocodile Cafe The Crocodile (formerly the Crocodile Cafe, and sometimes called The Croc) is a music club at 2505 1st Avenue at Wall Street in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Opened by Stephanie Dorgan as the "Crocodile Cafe" ...

. Live performances of "River of Deceit" can be found on the "

I Don't Know Anything "I Don't Know Anything" is a song by the American rock band Mad Season, released in 1995 as the second single from the band's sole studio album, '' Above'' (1995). The song reached number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Comp ...

" single and the compilation album ''Bite Back: Live at Crocodile Cafe''. A performance of the song is also included on the '' Live at the Moore'' home video release. On May 23, 2012, the surviving members of Mad Season (Mike McCready and Barrett Martin) performed "River of Deceit" during a set at the Showbox Theatre in Seattle for Mike's annual benefit concert for Crohn's Disease. They were joined by Loaded singer Jeff Rouse and bassist Rick Friel. On January 30, 2015, the surviving members of Mad Season again reunited for a concert at

Benaroya Hall Benaroya Hall is the home of the Seattle Symphony in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. It features two auditoria, the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, a 2500-seat performance venue, as well as the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital H ...

in Seattle, with

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. H ...

filling in on lead vocals. The band played several Mad Season songs, including "River of Deceit". A recording of the concert was released as a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

''Mad Season & The Seattle Symphony - Sonic Evolution / January 30, 2015 / Benaroya Hall''. Chris Cornell subsequently added "River of Deceit" to his solo repertoire, performing the song each night on his 2015

Higher Truth ''Higher Truth'' is the fourth studio album by American rock musician Chris Cornell, and the final album to be released during his lifetime and his final album of original material. It was released on September 18, 2015. Recording Cornell chose p ...

tour. Cornell also mentions the lyric "River of Deceit" in his song "Ground Zero" with the lyrics being "Blood on the concrete/River of Deceit/Will you be around?".

Temple of the Dog Temple of the Dog was an American rock supergroup that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. It was conceived by vocalist Chris Cornell of Soundgarden as a tribute to his friend, the late Andrew Wood, lead singer of the bands Malfunkshun ...

also played the song on their 2016 tour.

Track listing

All songs written by

Mike McCready Michael David McCready (born April 5, 1966) is an American musician who serves as the lead guitarist for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band. McCready wa ...

John Baker Saunders John Baker Saunders, Jr. (September 23, 1954 – January 15, 1999) was an American musician, known as a founding member and bassist for the American grunge rock supergroup Mad Season, as well as a member of The Walkabouts. Biography Saun ...

, and

. ;CD (Australia and Austria) and Cassette (Australia) #"River of Deceit" – 5:04 #"November Hotel" (live) – 15:17 #*Recorded live on November 20, 1994 at the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Some copies list the second track as just "November Hotel" (without "All Alone"). ;Promotional CD (US) #"River of Deceit" – 5:04

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 1990s ballads 1995 debut singles 1995 songs Mad Season (band) songs Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Mike McCready Songs written by Mike McCready Songs written by Layne Staley