Rob Larkin & The Wayward Ones set out to create a piece which is comforting and yet true to reality. It’s a song that paints a beautiful image of this woman who is compared to a river throughout the song. To use a river to symbolically represent a person has various implications which create an image of this woman very well. They are able to effectively flesh this person out in our minds by using only one word. Loving this woman is the theme of the song, it is very much romanizing her while still being true to her faults. The instrumentals and the sound of the vocals make the song truly romantic in their sweetness.
She Can Flow has a gentle sound. The guitar adds to that vibe along with the light and sweet vocals. One of the lines from the piece that works to set the tone of the song is, “she fills my soul like a river from my head down to my toes.” This is a nod towards the title. It creates an interesting image of the singer of the piece being filled up with this warm sort of water, which symbolizes love and good feelings. Interestingly enough the love interest appears to be represented by the river. A river is a choice which is reflective of loyalty because it flows a straight and narrow path. However, just like any body of water there are times and parts of that river which is more violent. This is merely the flow of human emotions though. We tend to all have troublesome patches inside ourselves. A river makes a great comparison for a human in a romantic relationship.
The cover for the album, Lights Are Burning, which this song is a part of, is warm just like She Can Flow. The cover has dark hues and contrasting points of warm, bright lights. The photo is of an alley. There is a brick wall to the left and you can’t quite make out the wall to the right. There are three light sources. But there are also a lot of dark, shadowy sections of the image. The large amount of dark does not make for a creepy feel as one would suspect. The dark merely works to accent the yellow bright lamps. The photo looks to be set in an older era; perhaps the lamps are gas powered.
The old time street lamps and the color is what really make the image warm. The song is made warm by the vocals and the soft, sweet instrumentals. This song is truly melodic and has a quality theme to it which plays up the love in the song. This love song is about an imperfect love, like every romance, but it is an imperfect love that fulfills the lover. Not much more can be asked for from someone than a romance that fills you up and makes you happy enough to smile.
https://www.roblarkinmusic.com/
By Max Honness
