The River (Good Charlotte song)

Last updated

"The River"
The river cover.jpg
Single by Good Charlotte featuring M. Shadows and Synyster Gates
from the album Good Morning Revival
Released
  • January 4, 2007
  • May 21, 2007
Recorded2006
Length3:16
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Don Gilmore
Good Charlotte singles chronology
"We Believe"
(2005)
"The River"
(2007)
"Keep Your Hands off My Girl"
(2007)

"The River" is a song by Good Charlotte featuring M. Shadows and Synyster Gates of the band Avenged Sevenfold. The song was the first single from the Good Morning Revival album in North America and the second single throughout the rest of the world except for Australia. On December 8, 2006, the second GCTV episode was released on Good Charlotte's website. "The River" was featured in the video and can be heard playing in the background. The song was premiered January 4, 2007, on their official website, and via the band's Myspace. The song impacted radio on January 23, 2007. [1] There are several references to the Bible throughout the song and the overall time of the song is three minutes and sixteen seconds, intentionally to reference John 3:16.

Contents

Shortly after Jimmy "the Rev" Sullivan's death, Good Charlotte dedicated the song to him.

Track listing

  1. "The River" (featuring M. Shadows and Synyster Gates)
  2. "The River" (acoustic version)
  3. "You're Gone"
  4. "The River" (video)

Music video

Music video of "The River" Good Charlotte -The River- 0005.jpg
Music video of "The River"

A music video for the song was shot in mid-December 2006, in Los Angeles, California with director Marc Webb, who has done "The Motivation Proclamation" and "Festival Song" videos for the band before, but had not directed a video for them since 2001. It features Good Charlotte performing alongside the concrete L.A. river bank that runs through the city, contrasted with classic images of the beauty and history of Los Angeles. The video clip shows the two sides of L.A., the excitement and glamour of L.A. that the band witnessed early on in their career and then the deeper/darker hidden side of L.A. that people and the band saw after living there for years. Myspace celebrity Jeffree Star and actress Megan Fox are featured in the background throughout the video.[ citation needed ]

Synyster Gates and L.A. in the background Good Charlotte -The River- 0008.jpg
Synyster Gates and L.A. in the background

There are two different videos for the song, one including M. Shadows and Synyster Gates, the other video is the version of the song without the members of Avenged Sevenfold featuring in it. GCTV episode three shows the video shoot of "The River". The video featuring M. Shadows and Synyster Gates premiered on MTV on February 7, 2007. The original version of the video, that does not feature Avenged Sevenfold's guitarist Synyster Gates and vocalist M. Shadows, was briefly shown on TRL .

The music video for "The River" was added to United Kingdom music channels Kerrang! and Scuzz on April 13, 2007, indicating that it was the second single in the UK from Good Charlotte and it was released on May 21, 2007. The video with Gates and Shadows features them morphing into one another, Benji into Joel, Shadows into Benji and so on. Synyster Gates is seen playing his Schecter Signature guitar.

Chart performance

"The River" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 93 in early February 2007 due to digital downloads, but fell off the chart the following week. [2] However, it went back onto the charts a few weeks later, landing at number 89. It is the first Good Charlotte single to land a spot on the Billboard Pop 100. The song ultimately peaked at number 39 on the Hot 100, becoming their second top 40 hit on that chart.


Charts

Chart (2007–08)Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [3] 37
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [4] 48
Denmark (Tracklisten) [5] 23
Germany (Official German Charts) [6] 40
UK Singles (OCC) [7] 108
UK Singles Downloads (OCC) [8] 95
US Billboard Hot 100 [9] 39
US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [10] 38
US Pop 100 ( Billboard ) [11] 39

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [12] Silver200,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avenged Sevenfold</span> American heavy metal band

Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, bassist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman.

<i>Waking the Fallen</i> 2003 studio album by Avenged Sevenfold

Waking the Fallen is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, released on August 26, 2003, through Hopeless Records. It is the band's first full-length album with new lead guitarist Synyster Gates and bassist Johnny Christ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. Shadows</span> American heavy metal singer

Matthew Charles Sanders, known by his stage name M. Shadows, is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and a founding member of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. In 2017, Shadows was voted third in the list of Top 25 Greatest Modern Frontmen by Ultimate Guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synyster Gates</span> American guitarist

Brian Elwin Haner Jr., better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. He ranks No. 9 on Guitar World's best metal guitarists of all time. Gates was voted as Best Metal Guitarist in the World by Total Guitar in 2016 and once again in 2017.

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<i>Good Morning Revival</i> 2007 studio album by Good Charlotte

Good Morning Revival is the fourth studio album by American rock band Good Charlotte. The band began working on new material in early 2005, however, drummer Chris Wilson soon left the band and was replaced by Dean Butterworth. The group took a break to focus on their personal lives before reconvening in early 2006, and eventually reconnecting with producer Don Gilmore. He was dismissive of the new material that the band showed him, and on his recommendation Benji and Joel Madden left Los Angeles, California and settled in Vancouver, Canada. After writing a number of new songs there, the brothers felt they were heading in the right direction. Meeting up every two weeks, the band members showed off the songs they were working on; Gilmore was again dismissive, challenging them to write material that was different. Another batch of songs was written before recording began in July 2006 and concluded in September.

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