{{about|George Strait's 2008 single}} {{Infobox song | name = River of Love | cover = River of Love George Strait.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = George Strait | album = Troubadour | released = {{Start date|2008|11|17}} | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Country | length = 3:15 | label = MCA Nashville | writer = Billy Burnette, Shawn Camp, Dennis Morgan | producer = Tony Brown, George Strait | prev_title = Troubadour | prev_year = 2008 | next_title = Living for the Night | next_year = 2009 }} "'''River of Love'''" is a song written by Billy Burnette, Shawn Camp and Dennis Morgan, and recorded by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in November 2008 as the third single from the album ''Troubadour''. The 87th single of his career, it is also his 80th Top Ten on the ''Billboard'' country charts, as well as his 44th and final Number One hit to date.
==Content== "River of Love" is a moderate up-tempo, with steel-string acoustic guitar and pedal steel guitar accompaniment. Shawn Camp, Billy Burnette and Dennis Morgan, who wrote the song, all sing backing vocals on it as well.<ref name="roughstock">{{cite web |url=http://www.roughstock.com/blog/george-strait-river-of-love |title=George Strait - "River of Love" |accessdate=2008-12-01 |last=Bjorke |first=Matt |work=Roughstock |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212063245/http://www.roughstock.com/blog/george-strait-river-of-love |archivedate=2008-12-12 }}</ref> The lyrics use a river as a metaphor for love ("Let's go rollin' on the river of love").
According to ''Country Weekly'', Morgan had approached Camp with a melody in his mind. Camp then built on the melody by playing along with a ukulele that Cowboy Jack Clement had given him, when Burnette joined in on his own ukulele, and they came up with the line "river of love". According to Camp, "It was just such an infectious groove, and it just kind of rolled out. The whole song was just two chords and that lick."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Horner|first=Marianne|date=2009-05-18|title=Story Behind the Song: Two Ukes, a Groove… and a Hit|journal=Country Weekly|volume=16|issue=14|pages=26}}</ref>
==Personnel== Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Troubadour''.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Troubadour |others=George Strait |year=2008 |publisher=MCA Records |id=B0010826-02}}</ref> *Eddie Bayers – drums *Billy Burnette – background vocals *Shawn Camp – background vocals *Stuart Duncan – mandolin *Paul Franklin – steel guitar *Steve Gibson – acoustic guitar *Brent Mason – electric guitar *Mac McAnally – acoustic guitar *Dennis Morgan – background vocals *Steve Nathan – Hammond B-3 organ *Matt Rollings – Wurlitzer electric piano *Glenn Worf – bass guitar
==Critical reception== Matt Bjorke of Roughstock, a country music review site, gave "River of Love" a mixed review. Although he called it an "undoubtedly fun song" and said "it's all about feel and groove", he added that "there's nothing really interesting about the song, other than the spirited steel guitar solo."<ref name="roughstock"/> Brady Vercher, in his review of ''Troubadour'' for Engine 145, described the song as having an "island vibe" similar to a Kenny Chesney song, calling it one of the weakest tracks on the album.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.engine145.com/album-review-george-strait-troubadour/ |title=George Strait - ''Troubadour'' |accessdate=2008-12-01 |last=Vercher |first=Brady |date=2008-04-03 |work=Engine 145 |archive-date=2014-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218104855/http://www.engine145.com/album-review-george-strait-troubadour/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref>
==Chart performance== "River of Love" debuted at number 45 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts dated for the week of November 22, 2008. The song became Strait's 44th and final ''Billboard'' Number One on the chart week of April 18, 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/best-of-2009-by-the-numbers/|title=Best of 2009 by the Numbers|last=Trust|first=Gary|date=2009-12-29|work=Billboard|access-date=8 January 2010}}</ref> One week later, it fell to number 9, taking the biggest fall from number 1 on that chart since Carrie Underwood's "So Small" fell from number 1 to number 10 on the chart week of December 22, 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/ask_bb/index.jsp?JSESSIONID=s3fSJy0QLR6lp22TTFtC1nVdvd4Gh31yKzQrMDMjjbtnG5RpGQ3F!1489988949 | title=Ask Billboard |accessdate=2009-04-18 |last=Trust |first=Gary |date=|work=Billboard}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable sortable" !align="left"|Chart (2008–2009) !align="center"|Peak<br/>position |- {{single chart|Billboardcountrysongs|1|artist=George Strait|}} |- {{single chart|Billboardhot100|59|artist=George Strait|}} |- {{single chart|Billboardcanadacountry|6|artist=George Strait|}} |- {{single chart|Canada|77|artist=George Strait|}} |}
===Year-end charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- !scope="col"|Chart (2009) !scope="col"|Position |- | US Country Songs (''Billboard'')<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2009/hot-country-songs| title=Best of 2009: Country Songs | work=Billboard | publisher=Prometheus Global Media | year=2009 | accessdate=December 13, 2009}}</ref> | align="center" | 5 |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090429104118/http://www.cmt.com/lyrics/george-strait/river-of-love/20386192/lyrics.jhtml Lyrics] at CMT.com
{{George Strait 2000s singles}}
Category:2008 singles Category:2008 songs Category:George Strait songs Category:Songs written by Shawn Camp (musician) Category:Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) Category:Songs written by Dennis Morgan (songwriter) Category:MCA Nashville Records singles Category:Songs written by Billy Burnette