"She's a River" is the first single released from Scottish
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 Wale ...
band
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...
Charlie Burchill
Charles Burchill (born 27 November 1959) is a Scottish musician and composer. He is the guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Simple Minds.
Style
During Simple Minds' early-to-mid-1980s period, Burchill's guitar had a distinctive a ...
and
Jim Kerr
James Kerr (born 9 July 1959) is a Scottish musician and lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds. Commercially successful singles released by Simple Minds include " Don't You (Forget About Me)", " Glittering Prize" (1982), " Someone Somewh ...
, the song was inspired by
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...
self-discovery
A "journey of self-discovery" refers to a travel, pilgrimage, or series of events whereby a person attempts to determine how they feel, personally, about spiritual issues or priorities,Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
region of Belgium, and number nine on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it peaked at number six 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 advertis ...
''
Album Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...
chart.
Background
According to guitarist/keyboardist
Charlie Burchill
Charles Burchill (born 27 November 1959) is a Scottish musician and composer. He is the guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Simple Minds.
Style
During Simple Minds' early-to-mid-1980s period, Burchill's guitar had a distinctive a ...
and vocalist
Jim Kerr
James Kerr (born 9 July 1959) is a Scottish musician and lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds. Commercially successful singles released by Simple Minds include " Don't You (Forget About Me)", " Glittering Prize" (1982), " Someone Somewh ...
, the song was inspired by
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...
's novel '' Siddhartha'', which contains themes of
self-discovery
A "journey of self-discovery" refers to a travel, pilgrimage, or series of events whereby a person attempts to determine how they feel, personally, about spiritual issues or priorities,younger man I relied so much on this book (among many others) to guide me through my own chaos. That need continues, as does the need to have inspirational music driving me on further still." Kerr went on to describe the storyline near the end of the book that inspired him the most:
"She's a River" was the first single released by the band featuring
Mark Schulman
Mark Schulman (born September 4, 1961, in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician, music producer, audio engineer and corporate speaker who has performed with Foreigner, Pink and Cher as their tour drummer for more than 30 years. Schul ...
on drums. Kerr called his performance "brilliant" and one-of-a-kind.
Chart performance
"She's a River" reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's eighth top-10 hit on that chart, and number five in their native Scotland. Throughout mainland Europe, the song reached number three in Italy, number seven in Flemish Belgium, and the top 40 in several other nations, including Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. On the
Eurochart Hot 100
The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...
, it peaked at number 12 during its second week on the chart. In
Australasia
Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...
, "She's a River" reached number 29 in Australia and number 21 in New Zealand.
In Canada, "She's a River" debuted at number 61 on 30 January—the highest debut of the week—and peaked at number three five weeks later, on 13 March. The song stayed on the ''RPM'' Top Singles chart for 12 more weeks, and it ended 1995 as Canada's 30th best-selling single. In the United States, the single peaked at number 52 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Simple Minds' first hit in the country since " See the Lights", which reached number 40 in 1991. It also reached number six on the ''Billboard''
Album Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...
chart, number 10 on the
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...
* UK CD1
# "She's a River" (edit)
# "She's a River" (instrumental)
# "E 55"
* UK CD2
# "She's a River" (edit)
# "She's a River" (Duo mix)
# "Celtic Strings"
* UK 7-inch and cassette single
: European CD single
: Japanese mini-CD single
# "She's a River" (edit)
# "E 55"
* European and Australian maxi-CD single
# "She's a River" (edit)
# "She's a River" (instrumental)
# "E 55"
# "Celtic Strings"
* US CD and cassette single
# "She's a River" – 4:29
# "She's a River" (LP version) – 5:32
# "She's a River" (Duo mix) – 4:25
# "E 55" – 5:07