Kele Fleming reminds us it’s never too late to change our ways for the better on her hopeful live single and video Where The Rivers Meet — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Originally released on the Victoria singer-songwriter’s 2020 studio album The Song I’ll Write For My Whole Life, this live recording reinforces the fact that the emotions and message of the song are just as timely (and timeless) as ever. Where The Rivers Meet reflects the layers of grief and loss that thread their way through Fleming’s fourth LP. It was written while the nature-loving artist was spending time in the lush Kootenays region of B.C. in 2019.
“I was in one of my favourite places on Earth, and surrounded by towering mountains, breathless forests, cool lakes and rushing rivers,” she says. “The song captures my love of the natural world. And it’s a love song (about) wanting so badly to get another chance and to do right with the one you love:”
“You’ve had big love
A gift that moves mountains
And carves beauty from stone
We are kind and good, don’t forget
Everything else, we lost in the flood
Some day I’m gonna set this right
And we’ll walk hand in hand
Down the street
Where the rivers meet.”
“I was hearing so much at the time about the devastating fires in Australia and California. Like this year and every year since 2019, the fires were also raging in B.C. and other parts of Canada. We have had so many impactful and heartbreaking wildfire seasons in B.C. and sadly this trend is continuing year after year. In Rivers, there is an expression of grief and loss and a lament for how we are impacted by the marginalization and destruction of nature. My love of the landscape, mountains, rivers, and forests are ever-present here in the melody and the lyrics. And, it’s a love song at heart. A call to action to make things right.
“Since writing this song, my perspective has shifted from one of grief and fear to action and urgent optimism. I am defiantly hopeful that we (the collective we) can start a revolution to slow down out of control bullet train of human civilization. I truly believe we can. And, I believe that love is the only revolution that this world needs.”
The video was captured in the fall of 2020 and was part of the virtual album release show for The Song I’ll Write for My Whole Life. Recorded during the midst of the pandemic lockdown (note the masks), this virtual show took the place of a full-on album release concert at Vancouver’s Wise Hall.
Watch the live video for Where The Rivers Meet above, hear more from Kele Fleming below, and meet her on her website, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter.
