[Verse 1]
Open my heart, ground my body
Calm my mind, make it slow and steady
Like the little Harpeth River running through the cottonwoods
Slow me down enough to notice you surround me with Your goodness
Ooh, ooh
Open my eyes to the love around me
Pulling it close, so till it's all that I see
There's a heartbeat in the wind blowing through poplar trees
Can I be still enough to hear You whisper gently in the breeze
[Chorus]
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and go
Drink from the River
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and go
Drink from the River
[Verse 2]
Open my arms to the light above me
Bow my head low to the ground at my feet
There's a healing that I needed taking root within my soul
Hand to heart, I breathe you in, You are here, You make me whole
[Chorus]
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and go
Drink from the River
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and go
Drink from the River
[Verse 3]
You are here, I am here, and I know
You are here, I am here, and I know
You're here, and I am here, and we go
We go swim in the river
Yeah. The river keeps flowing
Through the forest to ocean
To the sky, to the mountain
In the winter, in the summer
When it's frozen, when it's running
All this life, well, it is coming
Life is coming
Life comes from the river
[Chorus]
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and go
Drink from the River
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and go
Drink from the River
[Verse 4]
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and know
Can I be still and go
Drink from the River
I can be still and know
I can be still and know
I can be still and go
Drink from the River
I can be still and know
I can be still and know
I can be still and go
Drink from the River
Gonna drink from the river
River
Song Meaning
Ellie Holcomb slows everything down on purpose in "River" — "calm my mind, make it slow and steady," asking to be quieted enough to actually notice what's already present rather than to receive something new. The song's prayer isn't for intervention; it's for attention.
"Can I be still and know" borrows the psalm's own phrase directly, and the added line, "can I be still and go, drink from the river," turns stillness into the doorway to something active rather than its opposite. "There's a healing that I needed, taking root within my soul" keeps the request grounded in a specific need rather than generic spiritual longing.
"The river keeps flowing... in the winter, in the summer, when it's frozen, when it's running, life is coming" closes the song on continuity that doesn't depend on the listener's attention to it — the invitation is to notice a river that was already running, not to create one.