Recorded, mixed and mastered in Logic Pro by Paul Fifield in Windsor, CA, in 2022. Backing tracks created in Band-in-a-Box.
• Vocals - Paul Fifield
• Electric Bass - Tobin Frank
• Drums - Pat Steward
• Acoustic Strumming Rhythm Guitar - Jason Roller
• Acoustic Fingerpicking Rhythm Guitar - Jason Roller
• Dreamy Electric Rhythm Guitar - Darin Favorite
• Electric Soloist Guitar - Brent Mason
This was one of my earliest songwriting efforts. 1978 to be exact. At the time I was still drinking. I’d attempted to moderate my drinking several times. Usually I’d quit for a few or several months then figure I ought to be able to drink moderately — you know, have a glass of wine or a beer with a meal. And so I’d start up again and it would go well for a couple of weeks, but before I knew it I’d be in full-on drinking mode again. This pattern repeated itself until 1992 when I finally got smart and realized that I just don’t have the genetic makeup for moderate drinking — it’s all or nothing for me. Not drinking was the only way to salvage the rest of my life.
In the 1978 version of this song the third verse saw me despairing of ever getting sober, resigning myself to a failed life. I think I was subconsciously trying to scare myself straight, to warn myself of the inevitable outcome of not changing my ways. Well, in 1992 I finally did change my ways. I accepted the fact that there was only one path forward that would give me a chance of a successful life, and I quit drinking for good. In 2011 I was playing this song for my then vocal coach and she observed that since this was my story, a narrative about my battles with alcohol, it would make sense to rewrite that third verse to reflect the fact that I had indeed turned it around. She was right. So now the song has a more uplifting ending verse, accurately and supportively reflecting the monumental and lasting decision I made to affirm my own life. - Paul Fifield
Whiskey River
© Paul Fifield 2009 All Rights Reserved
Fifteen years on the bottle, it seemed like only yesterday
I had the good life going, good fortune rollin’ my way
Then I fell in Whiskey River, and it carried me away
Two kids and a wife, well, it ruined our lives, and look where I am today
Whiskey River, Whiskey River,
Whiskey River take my soul, I lost my self-control
You stole my life, now River take my soul, I’m growing old
Well, I wake up in the morning, I just can’t face the day
I’d like to start all over, but there are memories in the way
So I’m reaching for the bottle, before my feet have reached the floor
I'd pull myself together, but I don’t care anymore
Whiskey River, Whiskey River,
Whiskey River take my soul, I lost my self-control
You stole my life, now River take my soul, I’m growing old
Well, I used to have some money, and I used to have some friends
We used to have such high times, why did they have to end?
I used to let my light shine, and it helped to guide my way
Now I wear this shroud of darkness, gets darker every day
Well, I thought the whole thing over, one thing comes to mind
I don't lose this bottle, I’m gonna lose my life
Tomorrow's never gonna get here, I don't change today
Bye, old Whiskey River, you're no friend anyway
Whiskey River, Whiskey River,
Whiskey River, free my soul, I found my self-control
It's my life, now River, you just roll, I'm going home..