Reflecting love death and family, The song “River,” written by Ibeyi is dedicated to the Yoruba goddess of water. Yoruba is known for healing the sick, fertility, and prosperity. Yoruba watches over the poor and provides for them.
The sing starts off by saying,” Come to you river. I will come to you river. I will come to you river. Come to you river (wash my soul). I will come to your river (wash my soul). I will come to your river (wash my soul again).” The chorus talks about the washing away of sins in the river. It symbolizes heading into a new relationship. She is wanting forgiveness. That is what she means when she talks about the washing of her soul. The chorus reflects a biblical verse speaking of the cleaning of sins within rivers. Today those are baptisms. “….Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored and you will be healed…” -2 Kings 5:10 (NLT).
The beginning of the first verse open with, “Carry away my dead leaves.” Leaves in this case symbolizes change or the renewing on oneself. She has many things hat has changed or has fallen off of her, for the good.
The song ends with” Wemile Oshun.” Oshun is a beautiful goddess. She is the goddess of love and inspires sensuality, love, and healing. She heals the sick, brings fertility, and prosperity. They are asking Oshun to wash them. She dwells within the water.
This music video is intense. Video wise, it’s not like your normal music video with scene changes, color changes, and other effects. It’s so intriguing that the whole video is under water. It builds a connection with the music. Since the video is out of the “norm” and is shot completely underwater, it draws a lot of attention to the video and to the song itself. Having to describe this video using one word, it would be ‘masterpiece.’
