At the end of 2023, Calum Bowie signed his first ever record deal and now he’s back with his newest single ‘We Are The River‘. Setting the mood for the new year by telling a little story about cherishing old memories while also making loads of new ones, the Scottish musician keeps pulling the listeners into his world with cheery and upbeat melodies while capturing everyone’s attention with relatable and meaningful lyrics.
The melody of the song is the perfect mix of a slower instrumental part for the verses and the cheerful drums that speed the chorus up. Listening to it for the first time honestly made me a bit emotional and kind of nostalgic. The lyrics just have this effect of making you think about your most valued memories and wanting to go back in time with your friends to relive it all, But it also gives you the reassurance that it is okay to move on and make new memories with new people along the way.
In a post on his socials, the Scottish singer talks about how the song means a lot to him and feels like a real milestone since it is the first record after signing with a label. Explaining why the song means so much to him, he tells fans: „feels like something I’ve always thought but could never quite put my finger on“ and how the concept is actually about the river in his hometown. Calum would often see this river and at some point he realised that he was „always looking at the same river but it’s always changing and I realised I was also never the same person every time I was there. Ever flowing, ever growing“.
It’s a song about always moving on and looking forward to that, but at the same time reminiscing about old times and keeping those memories close to your heart.
In the verses Calum lists some of those memories of his („I remember lighting fires down by the river deed. We were drinking cans of cider, bought them with a fake ID. Life was easy, we had it easy.“) and lets the audience have some insight on his past.
Continuing with the chorus he takes the listeners back to the metaphor of the river and sings about how we change all the time just like rivers do – even if we don’t notice it ourselves („We are the river always, searching for the sea. We are the seasons, changing colours on the breeze. We are the reason and we’re always gonna be if we keep moving on.“), which in my opinion is a beautiful way of describing how growing up and moving on feels like, when you are still young.
In conclusion: If you want to reflect on your life and all the memories you made, but are ready to move forward nevertheless, this is YOUR song.
Written by: Lara Thissen
Edited by: Suzanne Teernstra
